Past to forget
by HalfDemonOfTheSeas
Summary: A Sanji-is-Naruto story. After losing his ability to use chakra, Naruto runs away from his life as a ninja, unable to face his friends and ends up in North Blue, in a different world from his own. Years later, the Strawhats run into a mysterious masked shinobi who sends them to the elemental nations. Sanji doesn't know what to do. ZoSan. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, guys! Decided to make a** **crossover between Naruto and One Piece where Sanji is Naruto. **

**The storyline of Naruto WILL change drastically because I stopped watching it sometime after Jiraya's death and that was ages ago. I do know more or less what has happened after that since my friend, who is a huge Naruto nerd, keeps me up to date, but I'd have to watch the whole thing in order to write accurately about it. **

**Also, I will try to get the techniques right, but please correct me if there are any mistakes.**

**(Honestly I don't think I'm the right person to do a crossover between these two, but I there doesn't seem to be any crossovers that use this idea and honestly I don't want to wait for a fanfic that may never happen…)**

**Also, THIS WILL BE ZOSAN! It will also have some hints of SasuNaru (or SasuSan). Any other pairings will be left up to you.**

**Now into the story…**

**xxxOPNxxx**

A shrill shriek pierces the peaceful atmosphere of a forest somewhere in the Land of Fire. Soon after a sphere of wind, around ten feet wide, destroys the few trees around and in front of it. A young boy stares at the remains of the attack in wonder. A grin spreads on his face as he whoops tiredly, holding his over-exhausted arm close to his body.

Collapsing on his back, he catches his breath and laughs. He feels happy about his success, even if he knows he is going to get yelled at for wasting so much chakra. He can't wait to tell his teacher about the technique.

Now if only he could come up with a name for it.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"There you are Ero-sennin! I've been waiting forever for you!" was the first thing the Toad Sage Jiraya heard when he stepped in the inn room he shared with his pupil. The said pupil was standing a few feet in front of him, hands on his hips and the happiest grin he's ever worn on his face. Jiraya had to take a double take at that one. Usually he got a punch in the face if he took longer than usual at his research trips. Raising a sceptical eyebrow at Naruto, he absently wondered if this was a trick and the punch would come as a surprise.

"You won't believe what I managed to do while training today!" Naruto exclaimed bouncing on the balls of his feet. The sage relaxed as he realized there was going to be no yelling directed at him. He was about to inquire about his pupil's training session, but Naruto beat him to it in his excitement.

"I made a new jutsu!" he said and stared at the man, waiting for his response. Jiraya's both brows had now disappeared under his headband. He was tempted to doubt the claim, but after taking one look into the pair of blue eyes that were glowing in proud happiness, he decided to take the bait.

"Exactly what kind of a jutsu are we talking about?" Jiraya asked and got another beaming smile from the boy.

"I call it; _Wind Release: Rasenshuriken_!" Again pausing to see a reaction, Naruto practically sparkled at the cool name he managed to come up with.

"Spinning Shuriken?" Jiraya repeated out loud.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically and begun to pull his teacher towards the door. "Yeah! Come on and I'll show you! It's really cool, trust me!"

Mildly protesting, Jiraya tried to pull his sleeve free, but ended up following the child in order to not ruin his fun. It was probably some weird wind enchantment for his shuriken. The boy had been crazy about those the moment he mastered _Wind Release: Rasengan_. Something he originally thought would've taken Naruto at least a year to perfect, he'd been wrong and completely gobsmacked when it only took a couple of months.

When the pair finally reached the forest they'd been using as training grounds, the sage forgot the thought of normal shuriken immediately. The patch of woods they used was originally a few trees short and a few holes in the ground, but the damage had been increased a massive amount. Right in the middle of the area was a roundish hole from eight to twelve feet wide and around four feet deep. Jiraya was quite sure it didn't come from either of the _Rasengan_ versions Naruto knew how to do.

"Right! Tell me what you think of it after I'm done." Naruto said, snapping the old sage out of it. Naruto went ahead and went through the hand signs for a Shadow Clone and summoned two.

Or he tried to.

At this moment Jiraya was starting to get a feeling something was not quite right. The other clone was normal, it was stretching a bit. The other one however, was not even properly corporeal. It struggled to even stand with its dully coloured legs, looking tired and mumbling something incomprehensible. The two people and a shadow clone stared at the failure of a clone that soon collapsed and disappeared with a poof.

"Weird, that's never happened before." the original Naruto commented dazed before shrugging and trying again, creating a proper one this time. Now there were three Narutos, the right amount. They got into the same position he used for _Wind Release: Rasengan_ and began forming chakra. "Naruto, maybe you shouldn't…" the man started but Naruto shushed him.

Jiraya furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes as he spotted both the clones and Naruto himself having a little trouble keeping form, especially their right hands seemed to be off, but he kept quiet and watched on. The boy looked like he knew what he was doing.

A split second later of the technique growing in size, Jiraya regretted not stopping the boy while he had the chance. He rushed forward calling his pupils name and hoped for the best as the blast of wind vanished. He slapped himself inside his head for his carelessness.

The technique called _Wind Release: Rasenshuriken_ had spiralled out of Naruto's hand and hit the caster himself straight on.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Naruto struggled to open his eyes, he felt like they'd been clued shut. After a bit of difficulty he managed the feat and frowned at the ceiling. That's not where he was supposed to be. Then again he couldn't remember where else he was supposed to be, it was the inn's ceiling after all. His eyes felt scratchy so he decided to rub them with his hands. If he could move them.

Naruto's frown deepened as he realized his whole body felt a little more than heavy. He could move his toes and fingers on his left hand, but his right arm didn't move an inch.

Before he had a chance to panic, he heard a voice on his right. A voice of someone scrambling on his feet and dashing to him wearing wooden shoes. Wasn't that hard to realize it was the silver haired sage.

"Naruto! You're awake!" he said as his head appeared in Naruto's line of sight. "I almost thought you wouldn't wake up at all." Jiraya continued as Naruto turned his head to see the worried expression of his mentor better.

"What happened?" was what he was trying to say, but came out as a cracking cough. Jiraya handed Naruto a glass of water and helped him drink it while talking:

"Your jutsu nearly killed you." All the memories of the incident hit Naruto like a punch in the face. The sage decided to elaborate seeing Naruto at least looked like he was able to process the information. "The technique exploded on your face. It…", he stopped mid-sentence now completely freaking Naruto out. Jiraya looked like he might just cry with the way he was desperately looking for the right words.

Placing the now empty glass on the floor next to him, Jiraya sucked in a deep breath and whispered what might as well have been a death sentence to Naruto: "The technique cut straight through your chakra pathway system." He could barely process the sage's next words. "You survived okay, but you'll never be able to use any techniques ever again." Those two sentences rolled around Naruto's head as he felt the shock hitting him too hard.

Naruto passed out.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"I'm sorry, ero-sennin." Naruto apologized, surprising the said sage greatly. The boy had stayed silent for a couple of days now, long enough for Jiraya to think the kid would stop speaking completely, and now he said something that made no sense for the hearer. If anything it should be the other way around.

"About what? I'm the one who should've been paying more attention to your training and made sure nothing like this would've happened." he answered truthfully. And honestly enough he'd been blaming himself for everything.

"But I'm the one who made the technique! And you tried to tell me to stop after the clone failed! I was just too stupid to listen!" Naruto shot back in a momentary flash of anger and shame. Jiraya ignored the tone of voice and sighed, his eyes full of pity and quilt. Naruto decided he hated that look. He was used to hate and blaming.

"I could've tried harder. And I wouldn't have listened either if I was in your situation." the sage responded tiredly. He really should change the subject out of self-blame. "How about we agree both of us are at fault?"

Naruto contemplated the suggestion a bit before nodding solemnly. He turned his attention back to his hands, which he'd been staring at ever since he woke up the second time. At least he could move his right arm again. He then whipped his head back up as a thought hit him.

"What about the kyūbi?" he asked looking at his mentor. However, all the hope left his body when he saw Jiraya shaking his head negative.

"I told you, the attack went right through you. And wouldn't Kyūbi supply you with its own chakra if something happened to yours? I haven't been able to detect any sing of the blasted thing or its chakra."

Naruto didn't even have the energy to curse. He felt like it though, when Jiraya looked at him with _those_ eyes again. Naruto started planning...

**xxxOPNxxx**

Jiraya was writing his new book of porn when Naruto called for his attention again. Looking up from his project Jiraya turned to Naruto, motioning for him to continue.

"I can't become the Hokage anymore." the former number one most obnoxious ninja of Konoha stated sadly as if had just come to realize the fact. Jiraya supressed a wince. He knew the subject would come up eventually, but he hoped it wouldn't be mentioned until Naruto was back to full health at least.

"So it would seem." he answered unable to come up with anything sensible to say. After a minute of quiet pondering from both sides, Jiraya continued: "I'm sure there is something else you want to be. You could become a writer, like me, or maybe a ramen chef." He held back another grimace. That was insensitive, even for him. Not like Naruto minded, he didn't seem to even hear him. Another long silence followed, in which Jiraya started playing around with the hem of his coat.

He whipped his head back up when he heard a sniffle. "I-I can't get Sasuke back!" his pupil wailed and begun shedding tears. Jiraya took a second to notice his pupil's state, comparing it to the ball of energy he was before the incident. A few weeks ago Naruto practically radiated confidence, but now Jiraya got the feeling of complete defeat. Seeing his student starting to shake, he threw his manly reputation to the wind and went ahead and hugged the boy.

The sage felt even worse about leaving Naruto alone with his training, while letting the said child weep on his shoulder. "It's all right, Naruto It's not like no one will blame you for this." he said, rubbing Naruto's back.

Naruto shook his head and nearly broke down again talking: "If I can't even bring back Sasuke like I promised to, how can I face Sakura and Lee a-and…" His voice had been rising with every word and Jiraya felt like crying himself at the desperate tone of the boy.

"Then how about sharing some of the burden? Everyone else is doing their best to get stronger as we speak. I'm sure they will get Sasuke back." the man tried and Naruto answered:

"I'm his best friend! I need to be the one to bring back Sasuke. I-I mean that's what I've been training for!"

The Toad Sage couldn't find anything to say back, so he simply continued comforting Naruto with his best effort. The boy truly cared for the raven haired avenger more than the man originally thought.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"I'm sorry to leave you alone, but I really need to go and send this manuscript to my publisher. If I don't do it now, we're going to run out of money and we'll be starving until I do send this."

Jiraya was standing near the door, ready to leave. Naruto sat next to the window, looking outside. "It's fine." he said and closed his eyes. He waited for Jiraya to leave, absentmindedly noting he'd be back in a few hours. He opened his eyes when he couldn't hear the clacking of his mentor's geta any longer. Naruto kept his eyes on Jiraya, who he could now see walking the streets of the small town they were in.

Seeing the old man walk a corner, where Naruto could no longer see him, the boy quickly turned back to the room and ran to the closet. He pulled out a back bag and a piece of paper next to it.

As he placed the piece of paper, a letter, on a place where it could be easily seen from the door, Naruto hesitated. Jiraya had tried really hard to make him feel better and Naruto could see the quilt the man felt. It made him feel a little bad for what he was about to do.

**xxxOPNxxx**

When the Toad Sage arrived back to the room, the letter was indeed the first thing his eyes noticed. The bag of takeaway ramen he had bought as an apology gift for Naruto was dropped to the ground as he went to pick up the letter.

Naruto was gone.

In a trance he folded the obvious goodbye letter open and started reading.

**End of chapter 1. A small cliffhanger. (…I'm not even sorry.)**

**In the next chapter Jiraya reads the letter and returns to Konoha. There's also some Naruto looking for a reason to live.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two people! I think I'll answer some reviews here in the beginning of the chapters, since I'll be answering questions others might be wondering too so:**

**gunslayer12:**** (About Sanji's and Zoro's personality) I do plan on keeping them in character mostly. Obviously the pairing doesn't work without small changes, but at least in the beginning at least Zoro should be in character. Sanji's personality might become a slight combination of Naruto and Sanji, but we'll see. **

**Also I'm not starting with those two together, but I'll have them get there at some point. I'm also considering a love triangle, so any ideas are welcome.**

**Thanks for the reviews and favorites! I appreciate positive comments. :D**

**xxxOPNxxx**

_Hi, ero-sennin!_

_I'm leaving. Not like killing myself, but just…leaving. I tried my best to tell myself its fine and I'll be okay, but I really can't do it. I tried to think of myself as Rock Lee, he's doing fine even without chakra. But I can't, I know I'm nowhere good enough in taijutsu to pull that off. There's no way I'd be able to stand the humiliation of returning to Konoha even weaker than when I left._

_I know this is the coward's way out, but I can't really help it. If the Ky__ū__bi is still sealed inside me, then that means I'm only a Jinchuuriki. There's no way the villagers will be let me be anymore if that's the case. I'm not that stupid. I know being a shinobi and protecting Konoha was the only thing keeping them calm enough to leave me alone._

_Goodbye._

_Naruto_

_PS:_

_I left my hitai-ate on the table, I won't need it. There's also Tsunade-baa-chan's necklace there. Give them to her, please. Tell her I'm sorry for disappointing her. She trusted me to become Hokage and I failed her._

_If you could tell everyone else that I'm sorry too, I'd really appreciate it. _

The room was silent. All five people in it had a look of shock and misery. The blonde woman sitting at the table facing the other four was gripping a paper between her two hands. Jiraya stepped suddenly forward and placed a crystal necklace on the table, along with a hitai-ate.

The letter was dropped as the woman's hand shot toward the necklace as if she couldn't believe it was really there. The sage looked away in shame still feeling incredibly stupid for leaving Naruto on his own.

"So Naruto's gone now too…" a pink-haired kunoichi stated shaking a little. Tears started flowing down her face, free for all to see, while she bit her lip in order to stay strong. The rest admired her effort, while they themselves were feeling numb and tired. A man in his late twenties put a hand on her shoulder for once abandoning the orange book he so often carried around.

In the corner of the office, a woman looked at the blonde lady, still staring at the necklace. This certainly wouldn't help the rumors of a curse on the thing. She hugged the pig in her arms a bit tighter. First Sasuke and now Naruto too. Konoha was going to become a quiet place.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Get out of here! No money no food!"

Naruto flew out of the restaurant's door and hit the wall opposite of it. He got up rubbing his behind as that was where he got kicked at. He stuck out his tongue at the now closed door. He then sighed when his stomach grumbled. He really had to find some way to get money. And a place to stay for that matter.

Naruto had been traveling for two weeks now and was currently in one of the islands of the Land of Water. He wasn't sure how he got there, he was sure he had been going the other direction, but he didn't mind. He actually found out he liked sailing while he was on a boat to one of the islands. Maybe he should become a fisherman…

The boy groaned as another grumble made itself known. He held his hand on top of his abdomen while glaring the ground. He started to wonder if punching it would distract him from the feeling of starvation when he heard a chuckle.

"My, my. I thought some sort of an animal had found its way to my front door with all the noises and all." Naruto whipped his head up to see a woman with a kind smile on her face. "To think it was a starving child instead." she continued causing Naruto to pout. She tilted her head a bit and looked at him with calculating eyes, making him take a step back.

"Would you like some dinner?" she asked suddenly and made Naruto jump. He voiced a small 'huh' questionably and blinked stupidly. "You are hungry aren't you? I just made dinner for my family. There is enough for more though. You are welcome to join us." she said and moved away from the doorway, inviting him in. Unused to such kindness, Naruto searched his brain for an appropriate answer, but gave up halfway. He stepped through the door with a small polite thank you.

The woman smiled once more and led him further into her house. For a moment Naruto felt like he was being led into his death and he'd be eaten or enslaved or something as equally ridiculous. But after the whole household of four introduced themselves, he forgot it all completely.

After a few hours filled with laughter and smiles, things finally started to look up for Naruto.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Sakura?" The mentioned girl looked up from the papers she was organizing and saw her jōnin instructor leaning on the table next to her. She blinked in surprise, was she really so out of it she had not seen him coming?

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked shaking herself out of her stupor. Of course she didn't see him, he moved like-well, a ninja. Sakura continued arranging the papers while waiting for a response. Damn the Hokage for making her do all the work for her. Hangover or not she should at least take care of her responsibilities herself. Not like she could blame her for getting drunk off her ass, if she was old enough Sakura would've probably been drinking too…

"Sakura?" Kakashi's hand was shaking her shoulder. He was looking at her concerned, eyebrow raised. Sakura realized she dozed off on him and had completely missed what he had said.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just a little tired." she said shaking her head a little and forcing her attention back to the older ninja. The copy ninja took back his hand as he repeated what he said originally:

"I asked if you wanted to come with me to empty Naruto's apartment. The hokage thought it best to do so. As much as she wishes he comes back, she knows the chances aren't high..." Sakura looked away from her instructor in thought. For a minute or two she pondered the idea, before deciding the paperwork could be organized another day and nodded her answer.

Together the two left for their friend's apartment.

**xxxOPNxxx**

A month had gone past since Naruto ran away. The kind woman and her family ended up taking him in and letting him stay there as long as he wanted. They even told him about an old man who was looking for help for his shop. He didn't really need money, but he thought it would be nice to have something to do.

Naruto was currently on his way to meet the old man about the job. He was walking through the streets he was now more or less familiar with, keeping an eye out for the antique shop the old man supposedly owned. After getting lost once, on a street maybe a little less familiar, he found the small store and walked in through the front door.

Naruto was immediately hit with the smell of old paper and dust. As he looked around he saw different kinds of strange artefacts and ancient scrolls. On his left was the display window. Arranged in front of it was various vases and pots, all decorated with beautiful art and calligraphy. On the walls were clocks, paintings, swords and other weapons, pretty much everything you possibly can hang up on a wall.

The few tables were filled with small figurines and stuff that wasn't possible to put anywhere else. On the floor lied an old man and on the shelves-wait an old man?

Naruto whipped his head back towards the floor and rushed to the man. He kneeled next to him and checked his pulse. He was able to find one and the man was breathing as well, so why was he on the floor? Naruto tried to remember what to do with an unconscious person when he heard something. It came from the man on the floor. Naruto leaned forward in order to hear better. He put his ear next to the man's head and then he heard it.

A huge rumbling snore made its way to his ears. Naruto pulled back with a deadpan expression. He sat straight, staring at the man sleeping peacefully a little bubble of snot out of his nose. "Wake up, ossan!" he yelled, making the said man stand up way faster than a man that age should be able to, knocking Naruto down on his way up.

"What?! Where?! I didn't steal the cow!" he shouted. He then turned to Naruto and pointed at him. "Did you just call me an old geezer you little snot?!"

Naruto gaped at the man. Who could possibly be so eccentric at his age? He then got his bearings together and jumped up. "Who're you calling a little snot!" he exclaimed angrily. The old man stared at him creepily and then begun laughing. He laughed and laughed for what felt like an eternity and Naruto was starting to feel like the man was crazy.

"So what brings a brat like you into my store?" he asked after eventually calming down, still amused about something Naruto couldn't understand. He was a short man who was at least on his eighties, yet the look on his face was that of a youngster who was still excited about life. Cautiously, Naruto answered the man:

"I was told you're looking for help around here?" The old man looked at him up and down skeptically. Naruto could understand why, he was only thirteen years old after all. That and he was dressed in orange pants and a T-shirt that was ripped from quite a lot of places.

"That depends. Can you carry heavy objects? I'm not what I used to be, my back can't handle heavy lifting."

Naruto found it hard to believe. "Sure." he said. He knew he should elaborate, but he wasn't ready to explain how he got his physique quite yet. The old man still seemed unsure, but shrugged and thrust forward his hand.

"You got the job, brat. The name's Ryuga."

Naruto took the hand and gripped it in a way he hoped was firm. He was not used to introducing himself with his new name. He realized a few days into his journey that he shouldn't use his real name too often. He was still a target of Akatsuki after all. Not like it would stop them from finding him if they really wanted to, but leaving his old life behind felt a little easier with a different identity.

He smiled weakly at Ryuga. "Thanks, ossan. My name is Sanji."

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sakura wiped her forehead. Tsunade had been working her hard on her training and the girl felt exhausted. She was walking the streets of Konoha, randomly strolling around, letting her feet carry her feet wherever. After her teammates left the village, Sakura felt a little lonely. She knew they had their reasons and there was most likely nothing she could've done to prevent them from leaving, but she still felt guilty.

The kunoichi sniffled a little, staring at the ground she was walking on. She then bumped into someone. Looking up she saw the timid heir of the Hyūga-clan, who interestingly enough seemed to be crying as well.

"H-hinata?" Sakura called as she helped the girl up. Seeing the tears on her face, Sakura's mother instinct awakened and she immediately went to comfort the short haired girl. "Are you okay?" she asked feeling a little horrified of knocking her over.

"I-I'm fine. I-It's just t-that…Naruto…" the girl stuttered barely telling anything but Sakura understood. The pinkette nodded her head and took Hinata's hand.

"Come on. I'll treat you to Ichiraku's." she said and pulled the girl along with her. Sakura might be feeling guilty and alone, but at least she can try and make a heartbroken girl feel better. And hey, if she makes a good friend while at it, even better.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Three months had gone past since Naruto started travelling. After a few weeks of dusting shelves and hauling around boxes, he moved in with Ryuga. Turned out the man had narcolepsy and sometimes fell asleep standing. He also lived alone so Naruto ended up hauling him around as well. Or Sanji had to, as he'd taken to calling himself with. He's actually gotten used to the name, but he had a feeling Ryuga knew he had lied when he failed to respond when called. The man never brought it up however so Sanji was never sure.

He'd also gotten used to living like a normal person. No one knew about the Kyūbi so he was free to talk to people and socialize without being glared at like he'd disgraced someone's grave.

There was one incident where he was almost recognized though. Inari and his grandfather were apparently on some sort of a vacation. Luckily Sanji had taken into covering up the whiskers on his face with make-up and they eventually came into the conclusion that he wasn't Naruto.

He'd also changed his wardrobe, avoiding any orange pieces of clothing. He grew his hair out a little too.

"Sanji, can you lift that box?" Ryuga asked pulling Sanji out of his thoughts. With a little sigh he did as he was told. "You alright?" the old man questioned after the boy had placed down his burden.

"Yeah." he answered, staring into space. He wasn't that fine really. He kept thinking about Konoha and what was going to happen when the Akatsuki finally finds him. It would happen eventually, but that didn't stop him from being scared and paranoid every once in a while. At least as a shinobi he had had an actual chance to fight back.

Ryuga looked at him for a long minute. "Well, if there's anything you want to talk about, I'll be here." he said and gave Sanji the privacy he wanted.

**xxxOPNxxx**

It took six months for Sanji to get back to normal. He wasn't quite as noisy and obnoxious as he used to be, but he wasn't thinking of depressing thoughts anymore. He was still terrified of the Akatsuki, but he had come in terms with it.

He'd also been 'promoted'. Sanji was given the job of the cashier when Ryuga was busy with other things. But today he was dusting the shelves again when the bell above the door ringed. Sanji looked at the customer as Ryuga welcomed them. He felt himself pale. He didn't expect to be found this fast.

The person was Itachi Uchiha. He was alone for a reason Sanji couldn't determine. The Uchiha turned straight to Sanji and walked towards him. Sanji turned to scream at the old geezer he'd become so fond of during the few months:

"Run! This guy means trouble!"

Ryuga didn't listen to him however. As Itachi raised his hand, the old man charged with a curved sword he picked up from the wall. With a yell he jumped into the air and swung the sword. The shinobi simply leaned away from the attack and elbowed Ryuga to the stomach. The old man crashed on to one of the display tables and hit his head on the floor.

Sanji tried to run to him, but was immediately pushed to the wall. Itachi's hand curled against his throat and pressed him further back at the yellow wall of the antique store. Sanji squeezed his eyes shut, knowing better than to stare at the eyes of a Sharingan user.

"Interesting." the man spoke. "You've managed to break your chakra pathway system. No wonder you've gone into hiding." Sanji could feel the man's breath on his face. He wished he could breathe too. "How pathetic, you aren't even fighting back. Have you truly given up on living?" Sanji gritted his teeth. His hand hit something next to him and instinctively grabbed it. The thought of flinging it on Itachi's face came to mind, but Sanji hesitated.

It wouldn't work anyway would it? No matter what he did he would eventually lose. And it's not like fighting back would save the old man either. Sanji felt faint, he was running out of air. Panic settled in his mind and decided what to do for him. He swung his hand and surprisingly managed to smack the man in the face with a wooden sculpture of a cat cutting his own fingers in the process.

Sanji managed to take a few deep breaths as he slid down the wall, before a foot pressed into his chest, crushing his ribs instead of his throat this time. He coughed at the pressure and bit his lip right after. He knew he was shaking, tears were starting to build up in his eyes. He was scared.

"How annoying." the Uchiha muttered and Sanji thought he was going to get killed right there, but then he heard Ryoga get up. Sanji's eyes flipped open to see the old man ram into Itachi with enough power to push him off the boy. Still terrified, Sanji scrambled away from the men and managed to knock into the same table Ryuga had.

As he watched the criminal push Ryuga aside again, Sanji failed to notice a scroll had spread open on the floor in the chaos. Ryuga's body flopped to the ground as Sanji's fingers smeared blood over the parchment. He started to feel a pulling sensation as Itachi rushed at him.

The world around him went black as nausea kicked in and his consciousness slipped away.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Where is the nine tails?" a dark voice questioned to the lonely figure standing in the middle of an empty cave. The figure faced a corner of the cave.

"Disappeared. One item of the old geezer's merchandise reacted to his blood and warped him away. I tried to get information from the old man, but he wouldn't cave." the figure spoke and blankly stared at the wall listening to his superior.

"No matter. I'll take care of it."

**xxxOPNxxx**

When Sanji woke up he was hit with a salty smell and fresh air. Sitting up he saw a beach and a huge body of water he assumed was the sea. Bewildered as to how he was still alive he got on his feet and set out to look for people.

After five minutes of walking he found a town. By the looks of it, it was a small town mainly focused on fishing. The main street was filled with stalls selling fish and other fresh goods. The port had ships of various kind coming in and leaving mostly carrying some sort of cargo.

Despite living so long as a civilian, he did have some basic survival instincts left from his time as a ninja. Ever since arriving to the town he'd had a feeling there was something wrong. So Sanji listened to the conversations of the vendors and the people he passed by. He was rewarded with words he was not at all familiar with. One of the words was 'belly', which apparently worked as currency.

He wandered around the town for hours and eventually came to the conclusion he was nowhere near the Five Great Shinobi Countries. From what he had heard, he was in some place called North Blue.

Sanji sat at the port tiredly, he had no clue as to what he should do. He stared at the water going through his options when a man appeared behind him.

"What's wrong with you, kid? You've been sitting there for a while now." he said, settling down next to Sanji. The blonde turned to see the man better. He was young, in his early twenties. He had a round face and black hair.

"It's nothing big. I'm just kind of...lost. I don't have any money or anything either so I have nowhere to go." Sanji answered, a bit reluctantly.

The man nodded. "Then how about coming with me. We could use some help around the kitchen." he offered and looked at Sanji expectantly. The blonde stared at the man strangely for a minute. He's just as weird as Ryuga. Who in their right mind hires people like this? He nodded positive however and ended up following the odd man.

"Great! Don't worry, it's not a lifelong job. You're free to do whatever you like when you feel like you have enough money to go your own way!" The man dragged him along as he chattered on.

It turned out the man worked in a kitchen of a cruiser. Sanji managed to make friends with the other employees rather easily and even managed to learn a few things about the world he was in. He indeed enjoyed sailing and the ocean more than he ever thought he would and discovered a new passion for himself; cooking. And after two months he had a new goal in life.

He'd heard about the All Blue from the chefs and after digging around the library of the cruiser, he was convinced it was the best place in the world he was in. A small part of Sanji wondered, what was it with him and dreams most considered impossible, but a bigger part of him, the stubborn one, wanted to prove them wrong. The same stubborn side didn't listen to the laughter and teasing of the chefs, but ignored them instead.

When a pirate crew attacked the cruiser in East Blue, the only thing left of Naruto was his stubbornness. The fake name he had used to back in the Great Shinobi countries had become his real identity.

Naruto had gone and instead there was Sanji.

**Okay the ending sounds lame, but whatever. I hope I don't need to explain further. I mean most of you reading this probably know how Sanji met Zeff and all that.**

**Indeed there was a few minor OCs but they won't be showing up again. At least as more than just a small mention.**

**Next chapter we'll finally get to the actual story instead of backstory. **


	3. Chapter 3

**All right chapter 3!**

**gunslayer12****: According to One Piece wiki it's actually belly (in English at least), but beri, beli, belli etc. are also used so I got really confused. But I did also take into account Naruto wouldn't know how it's written so…I'll write it as beri from now on (I also guessed someone would point it out anyway ^_^')**

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Sanji! Meat!" was heard echoing around the Thousand Sunny. Accompanying the yell was a young man with a straw hat, who bounced up the stairs of the colorful ship towards the door of the galley. The rest of the few people who occupied the deck sighed, knowing what would follow. The youth threw open the door and was faced with a bottom of a shoe. The power of the kick flung him backwards over the railing and to the grassy deck.

"I've told you a thousand times not to bother me when I'm already cooking it, Luffy. How many times do I need to beat it into you?" the kicker yelled and dragged a hand through his hair. Next to the mast, where the captain crashed, was a redhead, who brought a hand to her face, deciding to just ignore the daily occurrence and get back to her sunbathing.

The nine equally strange people, who formed the Strawhat pirates, had just arrived on the first island in the New World. It seemed like an uninhabited island, filled with jungle and looked surprisingly peaceful, so they left the exploring of it for later and decided to take a small vacation while they still could. None of them knew what they would face in the New World after all.

Sanji exhaled heavily as his captain begun whining and complaining about the unfairness of the cook. Rubbing his eyes, he turned around and slammed the door closed, wishing to get at least half an hour of peace before he was bothered again. The blonde fished a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, in hopes of it calming down his nerves a bit.

He took a deep breath and got back in front of the stove. As he stirred the cream sauce in the pan while spicing the lump of meat he was planning on frying later, he had to wonder how one could be so obnoxiously energetic. Granted he used to be like that too, but still…

Sanji listened to the sounds of laughter and screaming as he flipped the vegetables around in order to stop them from burning and couldn't help but grin when he heard the scream of the swordsman. No doubt he got jumped by the three most childish members of the crew. The galley door flew open again as the long nosed sniper burst in, the heavy footsteps of Zoro chasing after him.

"Save me!" the long nose screamed in fear and jumped behind Sanji. Rolling his eyes, the blonde ended up kicking both out of his kitchen for disturbing him. He didn't bother to hold his hopes for peace and quiet anymore when the door opened again, this time sneakily. Looks like Luffy forgot Sanji possessed _kenbunshoku haki_ as well. He closed his eyes in frustration.

"Luffy, get out." he said without looking behind him, smirking when he heard the rubber man jump. Mumbling a small sorry, Luffy snuck back outside and closed the door behind him. Maybe he was learning, the cook thought and focused in his cooking again. Turning around the steak he was frying, he shook that idea out of his head, there was no way that could happen. He heard the door open again. It wasn't his captain this time however. Instead the aura was calm and refined. The group's archaeologist then.

"What can I do for you, Robin-chwan~?" Sanji swooned abandoning the steak for a moment as he swirled around to face the woman. The said woman smiled in her mysterious way and even Sanji had to admit the knowing look on her face made him a little paranoid.

"Just a glass of water, please." she smiled. "I have a rather dry throat." Sanji, as always, was eager to please the female population and pulled out a clean glass with the speed of sound. Robin laughed quietly behind her hand and Sanji got the feeling she knew something he didn't. He smiled regardless of the feeling and placed his hand on the fridge handle in order to open it. The woman got her water in a matter of seconds and sipped it amusedly as the blonde turned to the stove again.

"Nami would also like to know when the dinner is done. She seems to be getting quite riled up by the boys." she inquired as she placed the now empty glass onto the table. Sanji wasn't sure if she was telling the truth, but answered anyway, who was he to deny answers if a lady asked him for some.

"Give me fifteen minutes." he said and gave a beaming smile over his shoulder. Robin smiled back and walked out, thanking him for the water on her way. As Sanji once again gave all his attention to the food in front of him, the corners of his mouth climbed further up his cheeks. It may have been annoying as hell on board the Sunny, but he'd missed it regardless. The two years he had to spend in his personal hell in order to reunite with his crew again were definitely worth it.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sanji stood in the middle of a clearing. He looked around. How did he get there? He was just sitting in front of a bonfire with the rest of the Strawhats. They were cooking fish from what he remembered. The blonde was confused. The place looked familiar, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where he'd seen it.

He heard a voice behind him. Spinning around he got ready to fight, but stopped with his leg midway on its way up. In front of him stood Sakura. "How could you?" she asked. Sanji furrowed his brows. She looked no different than the last time he'd seen her, which had been years ago. How was she still so young? And for that matter why was he shorter than her?

The blonde looked down on himself and saw orange. His hands had shrunk and he felt something pressing on his forehead. Sakura was repeating the sentence over and over, staring him into his eyes with almost dead eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You let us down." came another voice. Sanji whipped his head to the side and saw a man with silver hair and one eye. He voiced the man's name in shock and was rewarded with a new sentence:

"I'm disappointed at you."

Flashes of blue and white ran in front of his eyes and he remembered. The voices increased when even more people appeared to repeat the same words. The blonde pressed his eyes closed and hands to his ears. Why was he going through this? He begun to feel weightless and the world stared spinning. The accusations were getting clearer and clearer. He gritted his teeth together as he tried to block it all out. He felt something pressing down on his torso.

Sanji woke up with a gasp. He could hardly breathe. He panicked for a second before he glanced down. Usopp had moved in his sleep and had ended up on top of Sanji. Irritated and tired after his nightmare, he pushed the other man to the side roughly, surprisingly not waking him up. Sitting up, the blonde examined his surroundings. A beach, camp fire on his right, their ship docked a small distance away.

He sighed and stood up, might as well keep company for whoever was watching the fire. He regret his decision as soon as he saw green leaning onto the huge log they had used as a backrest. For a moment he considered going back to sleep, but he knew he couldn't sleep anyway. He sighed again.

"Could you stop that damn sighing? You're annoying." the swordsman grumbled turning his head and glaring at the blonde with his one eye. Glaring back just as hard, the cook flipped him the bird and plopped down a few feet away from him.

"What's the matter? Had a nightmare?" Zoro mocked him with a tone so sarcastic even Luffy wouldn't mistake it for genuine worry.

"Shut up, marimo." Sanji mumbled back, he was way too tired for the other man's crap. The nightmare upset him just as much as any other time. It's not like the dream was rare…Staring at the fire, he failed to notice the green haired man raise his eyebrows at him. Though he frowned when the man snorted. God damn jerk.

"It's a nightmare. Get over it." the man snapped as the gloomy atmosphere spread longer. Sanji wasn't surprised the green haired idiot got bothered by it. He's always been the one most sensitive to it. The cook started to bitterly argue with the man, racking his brain to come up with new insults to use, eventually forgetting the dream he'd been haunted by for years.

**xxxOPNxxx**

The morning with the Strawhat pirates was noisy as usual. Of course since some of them were still tired, it didn't quite reach the level of noise the crew could produce when fully awake, but noisy compared to many other crews, pirates and marines alike. They wanted to explore the island, so in order to use their time well, they'd decided to wake up earlier than usual. It was more of a problem for some than others.

Luffy was pestering their chef for meat, but was only rewarded with tired yells from the said chef, who felt tired after sleeping so little. Usopp was slumping down on his seat looking dead. The poor man could barely keep his eyes open long enough to keep Luffy from stealing his pancakes. Luckily Nami was sitting right next to him and slapped their captain's hand for him. Sanji also slammed the heel of his foot on Luffy's head when the navigator was busy eating her own breakfast.

Chopper was happily munching on various muffins and screeched when Luffy's rubbery hand swiped the one he was about to eat right from his hands. The furry doctor looked so heartbroken at the loss of his precious muffin that the green haired swordsman gave him one of his sandwiches. Unsurprisingly Franky was sipping on some cola while writing something down on the notepad resting on his knee.

Robin was, together with their undead musician, laughing at the happenings with their respective hot drinks.

After breakfast had been finished, the crew started to plan their course of action. Half an hour of arguing later they managed to agree to divide into groups of three. Two to see the island and one to stay at the beach to guard the Thousand Sunny.

The first group was the food gathering group consisting of Sanji, Zoro and Chopper. Sanji and Zoro to hunt and gather food and Chopper to look for plants for medical uses. While the two men were less than pleased with this arrangement, they eventually had to deal when the rest of the crew ganged up against them, telling them to just suck it up for once. Especially Nami had been adamant enough to get them both out of her hair. Chopper was faster to agree, willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his nakama's mental health.

The second group went to map the island. Nami was an obvious add. With her, she took Luffy and Usopp. While the island looked harmless enough, she didn't feel like taking risks so the navigator made sure to take one of the monster trio with her. Usopp joined this group because he didn't feel like staying behind nor did he like staying between the cook and the swordsman during their never ending fights.

The last group was assigned Sunny duty. Robin was curious enough about the island to join any other group, but was willing to wait for a day or two. They weren't in a hurry. Franky was completely lost on his notes, no doubt designing some amazing invention and Brook just wasn't in a mood for walking.

"Adventure!" their captain proclaimed, gaining either a suppressed smile or an irritated sigh from his crew. Not really noticing either, the youngster turned to his cook and first mate with an unnaturally serious expression. "Sanji. Zoro. Make sure you get all the meat you can." he said and turned to run into the jungle, his group following.

The rest of them shook their heads at the rubber man's antics and dispersed with their own groups.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Luffy, wait up! Not all of us have the stamina to run in this overly long thicket!" Usopp complained wiping sweat from his forehead. They had been walking for a few hours or so already and the enthusiastic captain was the only one who managed to ignore the heat.

Nami rolled her eyes not caring what the man did. It became clear after an hour of exploring that there was nothing incredibly dangerous on the small island. Eventually Usopp gave up on him as well and begun conversing with the young woman again.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Watch where you cut, marimo bastard! You almost cut me!"

"If you don't want to be cut, then don't get in the way, curly brow!"

"What did you call me, mosshead?!"

"I called you a curly brow, curly brow!"

"Fuck you, shithead and keep cutting!"

Chopper sighed and picked a few leaves from the interesting plant he'd found.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Is that a three-headed monkey?"

"So it would seem, Robin-san."

"The animals here in the New World are SUPER weird…"

**xxxOPNxxx**

The evening came by quickly. Like they had predicted, the island was small and uninhabited. Despite the occasional odd animal, it was rather normal as well, which caused more than a few of them to have the thought something would end up happening anyway. Though Robin was the only one to voice it out loud, causing Usopp to wail and moan about her habit of speaking of morbid things as casually as the weather.

However despite the unnerving feeling, it wasn't until Luffy froze in the middle of stuffing his face that the crew was dead sure they were cursed by some unseen force to have bad luck.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Zoro muttered under his breath as he too felt the disturbance. And seeing the curly browed cook frown out of the corner of his eye, he was sure he'd felt it too. A rather strong presence had appeared on the island out of nowhere and it was approaching the crew, fast. It was practically radiating with malice and evil intentions.

The three _haki_ users prepared for a battle, motioning for the others to do the same. As the crew pulled out their weapons and put away the dining equipment, the presence kept speeding closer until suddenly it disappeared causing the swordsman to tighten his grip on Shūsui. And so when a dark figure with an odd spirally mask materialized a few hundred meters down the beach, Zoro had already pulled his sword and faced them.

He inspected the stranger with a sharp eye, all the while keeping track of his nakama, absently pondering why the cook had not moved since the appearance of the said stranger.

"Who are you?!" the rubber captain questioned, surprisingly cautious for someone so obnoxious, glaring at the cloaked male now slowly walking towards the pirates. The crew tensed in unison as the man chuckled in a manner that could only be defined as dark, portraying annoyance and anger instead of amusement.

"I'm afraid it won't concern you. The one I'm here for is the blonde." the man mocked fixing his only visible eye onto Sanji who seemed to be trembling slightly, trying to keep his breathing calm. He was also sweating a little, making the swordsman wonder exactly why he was even bothering to hide his discomfort when it was so blatantly obvious. Zoro chose to save himself the headache and turned his full attention back at the stranger.

"And exactly why-"

"You're part of Akatsuki, aren't you?" a strained voice interrupted whatever the eccentric shipwright of the crew was about to inquire, causing some of the others to whip their head at the source of it. Sanji was staring at the stranger with a furious look on his face. The green haired man would've been impressed at his attempt to suppress his fear if the blonde's eye hadn't given it away so damn easily. He was also a little unnerved, Zoro was pretty sure he'd never seen the cook so terrified. Though now that he thought about it, Thriller Bark might have been the only time he'd seen the man scared.

The cloaked man only chuckled again and stopped walking.

"Even better. I _am _the Akatsuki." he said and tilted his head as Sanji frowned. "I hope you realize the trouble you've caused me by making me look for you for all these years. And to think the failure of Konoha would be able to evade me for so long. A miracle, really." the man continued with a low voice.

"Too bad nine-tails hasn't shown up in years either. You came here for nothing." the blonde cook responded with the frown still in place.

It was at this point that some of the Strawhat pirates that had been following the short verbal fight looked confused, trying to decide whether they should attack the man or see what would come out of the spat. Luffy seemed to be completely out of the loop and Zoro and Robin seemed to be the only two to remember Sanji despised the person and kept a close eye on him.

"Is that so, then you don't mind coming with me? You'll have to forgive me for not quite believing that." the stranger said and took a step forward. Luffy snapped out of his confusion at that and positioned himself for an attack.

"You're not getting Sanji!" he yelled and threw a punch at the man, hand stretching the distance with ease. The rubber man's eyes widened, along with everyone else's, when the person disappeared right before the punch hit. The crew whipped around in unison when the creepy chuckle sounded from behind them.

"An interesting technique you have there, but it won't work on me." the stranger spoke now right behind the blonde cook who had frozen in place, barely able to turn around to face the person. "Now then…" he continued and raised his hand, reaching at Sanji. The man jumped back suddenly however, when a katana sliced through the air slicing the air where his hand had just hovered.

The green haired swordsman had decided to step in when he noticed the curly browed cook wasn't about to defend himself any time soon. He grinned at the stranger, exited to fight against such an opponent.

"Why not teleport away from that one? Did you not see it coming?" he taunted, feeling proud of himself when the man's eye narrowed in annoyance.

Zoro could hear the cook take a deep breath behind him and then a rustle of clothing indicating he had managed to unfreeze himself and was most likely digging for his cigarettes to calm down. He heard the others questioning the blonde's wellbeing as he pulled another katana from its sheath. Sandai Kitetsu was practically howling for blood.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, samurai." the man growled at him, but moved his glare over his shoulder at Sanji. When the man moved again, Zoro didn't hesitate to charge, preparing to change direction in case the man warped again. Instead of even dodging, the stranger braced himself and blocked Zoro's attack with a small knife like object he'd pulled from under his cloak sleeves. The swordsman would've been insulted if he couldn't see the man was clearly specialized in such weaponry and most likely deadlier with the knife instead of a katana.

It was when the two of them stood a few feet from each other that Zoro got a proper look at the man's eye. Earlier he'd assumed it had been simply red, but now he saw black pinwheel of sorts.

"Marimo!" the cook screamed all of a sudden. "Don't look him in the eyes!" he continued, warning the rest of the crew while he was at it. Zoro was tempted to ignore the order, but he was getting a rather weird feeling of the man's eye so he averted his own, focusing them on the man's hands instead.

He begun to estimate his opponent, more than sure the man was doing the same, realizing he'd need a third sword for the battle, if a battle would even occur.

The swordsman could tell the stranger was not there to fight. If needed be he could, but it wasn't primary objective, that was retrieving the blonde cook. Zoro frowned. From what he'd figured out from the earlier conversation, the cook had been running from something called the 'Akatsuki' for many years now. Yet when they'd met him the first time he'd been living in that fish restaurant, apparently reluctant to even leave the place. Maybe because it was a moving restaurant. He didn't seem to be against getting a bounty though and he'd been truly disappointed when his poster had been hand-drawn.

The swordsman was definitely getting a headache.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sanji was really glad he had taken up smoking. The feeling of absolute fear had subsided a little now that he had some nicotine in his system, so he was able to at least think properly. Never in a million years would he have expected Akatsuki to follow him to the world he was currently in. Back when he first arrived, he'd been dead sure they wouldn't even be able to. Yet here he was, staring one of them, an Uchiha no less.

Taking another puff of his cigarette he wondered if the man had just taken the Sharingan from an Uchiha, like Kakashi had. He was sure the man was not Itachi or Sasuke. Sasuke would've called him dead last or something of the sort. Instead the man talked about Konoha like he'd never been there.

"Sanji. You okay?" he heard Usopp whisper. Turning his head, the blonde chef saw his friends all looking at him with worry. Smiling a little, he nodded, indicating he'd at least calmed down. He turned his eyes back at the standoff between the moss head and the mystery member of the Akatsuki. The man had called himself the Akatsuki itself so Sanji felt safe to assume he was at least partially responsible of the organization's actions.

What the blonde wasn't so sure about was the reason. He hadn't been lying when he said the Kyūbi had shown no signs of appearing. Hell, even the seal had more or less disappeared with the whiskers he used to have in his face, which had been around the time he came here.

He gritted his teeth. The man was dangerous, he knew that even without _haki_. The black cloak with red clouds was proof enough. Sanji struggled for a way to beat the man, but was coming up with nothing. Apparently he was still a little affected by the ninja's appearance.

Sanji's attention snapped forcefully back to the two men before him by the collective gasp he heard from his crew. The swordsman was dodging long lines of fire the masked man seemed to be flailing around with his hands. As he watched Zoro jumping and running around trying to get close to the stranger, Sanji kept close track of the lines.

It was thanks to that, that he noticed what was happening before it did. So he ran forward and wrapped one of the fire strings around his shoe before it reached the swordsman's neck and slammed the same leg down to the ground, restraining one of the man's fingers while at it.

The battle halted as the men noticed his interference.

"The hell, cook?!" the green haired man yelled and Sanji frowned. Lifting his chin, he ripped his leg free.

"The bastard is here for me remember?" he muttered, not that willing to admit he had no idea what he was doing. He was well aware Zoro could've dodged it on his own. He kept his eyes on the stranger's fingers, in case he was planning on moving the strings. The swordsman scoffed, but kept his mouth shut.

The blonde was ready to fight by now, but it appeared the masked man had had enough.

"This is ridiculous." the man spit out and disappeared again. Both Sanji and Zoro whipped around expecting him to show up right behind them so they were flabbergasted when the redheaded navigator screeched.

The man was in front of Nami and reaching forward, not unlike what he was doing to Sanji before. Brook, who had been standing right beside her, placed his bony hand on her shoulder ready to push her back and step between them, sword pulled out. The crew's captain was also nearby and grabbed her arm in order to pull her back. Neither of them however was quite fast enough, so when the stranger formed a black hole of some sort right in front of Nami, all three of them were sucked inside it instead.

"Nami! Luffy! Brook!" Usopp and Chopper yelled almost in unison. The rest of them staring at the spot they had stood on with horror. Sanji felt his heart squeezing painfully and he knew the rest of them were feeling the same pain. None of them was willing to go through the same pain they had in Sabaody Archipelago.

Surprisingly, it was Usopp who snapped out of it first and pulled out his slingshot. With a yell he shot a pop green at the stranger. The shot went straight through the man, shocking them all, making targeting the sniper even easier. Robin and Franky thought fast and gripped him before the three of them were sucked in by the black hole as well.

Sanji came to the conclusion they didn't want to completely separate from each other, like back then. So in order to keep the last three Strawhats, including himself, together he took a good grip at Zoro's coat and dragged him quickly to Chopper. He barely managed to grab the small doctor, when he felt the same kind of pulling sensation as from the scroll years ago. Also similar to back then, darkness surrounded him. Before he blacked out, he passingly noted there was no nausea this time around.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**gunslayer12:**** Yeah, Sanji's past is the same, there's just more added to it. I mean from canon we know he's from North Blue and met Zeff when Zeff attacked the cruiser Sanji was in. There's really not much we know from Sanji before that. That's partly where I got the idea for this story too.**

**Should I make a love triangle? Like Sakura developing a crush on Sanji or Zoro or something? Should I keep some canon pairings? Their kids?**

**On another note, I also found out Sanji's original name was going to be Naruto, but thanks to the series, it was changed. I really did not know this. I swear to god if that's actually true.**

**xxxOPNxxx**

When Sanji opened his eyes, he saw trees. It took him a few seconds to remember what caused him to pass out in the first place and when it finally hit him, he sprung up to his feet checking for enemies. When he couldn't sense anyone dangerous nearby, he furrowed his brows, still eyeing the scenery.

The blonde snapped his eyes away from the forest when he heard a small mumble from his right. Spinning around he found Chopper sitting up, rubbing his eyes like he'd just waken up from a long sleep. Thinking about it, Sanji realized he really had no idea how long he'd been unconscious. The green haired swordsman was lying a few feet away as well.

"Wha- Sanji? Where are we?" the small doctor asked when he managed to open his eyes wide enough to look around.

"No clue. Is the marimo still alive?" the blonde muttered back. Lighting a cigarette, he watched as Chopper hurried over to check despite having no reason to, the man begun snoring after all.

Sanji rolled his cigarette around in his mouth as he tried to make sense of the situation. They'd been sucked into a black hole by a member of the Akatsuki and now they were in a forest? There was definitely something he was missing here. He decided to think of it later as he walked to the swordsman and kicked his side hard to wake him up, he knew the man could take it.

The reindeer gave Sanji a stern look he ignored as the burly man woke up with a startled noise. Patiently he waited for Zoro to realize what happened before speaking:

"Get up, idiot. We'll need to figure out where we are." He nudged the man with his shoe, without any ill intentions for once. Muttering darkly, the moss head stood up and checked his surroundings like the two other had. Sanji made sure the two were paying attention before turning to a random direction and gesturing them to follow as he started walking. He had no idea where he was going but it was better than staying still, even if he did have a strange feeling at the bottom of his stomach.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Robin! You're finally awake!" Blinking her eyes open, the dark haired archaeologist saw Usopp smiling at her shakily. She also felt a slight sway. Turning her head she realized she was being carried by the eccentric shipwright of the Strawhat pirates. Franky grinned and lowered her down so she could stand on her own.

"Ah, yes." Robin spoke and smiled to reassure the two of her wellbeing. "Where are we?" she continued. Usopp shrugged clearly having no idea. Franky seemed to have no idea either so she hummed in thought. She listened to Usopp explain they had been walking for a while in order to find some clue to their whereabouts, all the while coming up with different scenarios for them to end up in the middle of nowhere, only trees and a river seemed to surround them.

"Have you tried contacting the others? You have a Baby Den Den Mushi on you do you not? I recall Nami and Sanji carrying one as well." Robin suggested as they travelled on. She hoped Sanji hadn't been horribly tortured and killed already. Franky scratched his head as he sighed a little.

"I thought about that, but I decided it was better to see where we are first. Easier that way right?" he said, Usopp nodding along supporting the idea. The archaeologist pursed her lips a little, not quite agreeing with the two. The long nosed sniper noticed the small emotion and laughed nervously.

Shaking her head a notch, Robin stopped walking, causing the two men to stop as well. She crossed her arms across her chest in a sign she was using her powers. She noted Franky and Usopp waited in silence as she sprouted eyes around the area. The archaeologist focused her sight on the view her multiple eyes gave to her. She saw trees and more trees from all directions and so for every eye seeing only forest, she sprouted another one further away from the spot. Until eventually she spotted something else among the greenery.

Robin dispersed the rest of her eyes and focused on the flicker of white somewhere to the west from them. Getting a better angle she saw a group of four. Three men and a woman. Making sure her eye was properly hidden, she sprouted an ear near it.

"—oint of going over there? I thought our lead was here in the Land of Sound?" one of the men said. He seemed to have rather sharp teeth not unlike those of a fishman. Robin wondered if they were natural or if the man had sharpened them himself. He seemed to be in an argument with a man with pitch black hair, who looked like the leader of the four.

"Are you questioning me, Suigetsu?" the other man snapped, his ashy eyes glaring the sharp toothed man. Suigetsu muttered something Robin wasn't able to hear, causing the lone female to yell at him. The group walked on forward and Robin was tempted to plant an ear on one of their backs and continue eavesdropping until the dark haired man spoke again:

"Karin. You're supposed to pay attention to our surroundings."

The woman blushed in embarrassment and apologized hastily. Curiously Robin observed the red haired female take a deep breath and closing her eyes. A rather odd action considering she was apparently a lookout. The archaeologist was surprised when the woman gasped and snapped her eyes open and towards the direction the pirates were in.

"There a group of three about two miles to the east. Their chakra seems a little weird." Robin froze. She could sense them? Was she using _Kenbunshoku Haki_? Perhaps chakra was code for presence. "There's a woman and two men from what I can tell. The other two seem rather normal, but the third one, though…His chakra doesn't flow where it's supposed to, it looks like it's been cut from various places." the woman continued, proving Robin's theory inaccurate as _Kenbunshoku Haki_ isn't able to pick such precise description of one's body.

"Are they a threat?" the black haired man questioned. The archaeologist begun walking the way they had originally been walking towards, lowering her hands from their position, nodding to Usopp and Franky to walk with her side, still spying on the group's conversation.

"I-I don't thinks so. They're walking in the other direction. Seems like they were just taking a break." she said and turned back to the man. The man narrowed his eyes for a moment and flickered them at the pirates' direction before turning and walking away. Robin made sure the group was not coming after them or anything of the like before she felt it safe to quit using her powers.

The archaeologist turned her full attention back to her friends who were already interrogating her about her discoveries. Plastering her usual smile on her face, if a rather smug one, Robin turned her head to speak:

"I found out our location." She then chuckled. "As well as some interesting local terminology." She saw the long nosed sniper squinted in confusion, so Robin decided to elaborate. "We are in the Land of Sound. It would seem there is something called 'chakra', what I assume could refer to a sort of life force. Though I could be wrong."

She laughed into her hand as her crewmates glanced at each other in amazement.

**xxxOPNxxx**

The citizens of Sunagakure were having an odd day. Especially the sister of the Kazekage felt like the gods themselves had decided to ruin her first day off in months with the scene she was currently a witness to. That was a feat in itself, considering she wasn't really that religious in the first place.

Temari had simply been strolling around the city gates to pass time and had almost literally bumped into two young adults and a skeleton of all things. At first she was about to freak out and report the weird group to her brother, but then the red headed female had stepped forward and asked for help. They claimed to be lost and had no clue of their whereabouts. The next thing she knew, the kunoichi found herself in her brother's office scanning the shelves for a map, the said brother staring at the back of her head, blaming her for his headache.

"So, Temari-san, was it?" The nine-foot skeleton begun, breaking the awkward silence haunting the room. Temari looked at him over her shoulder and he continued:

"May I see your panties?"

A smack, followed by a terrified scream and hysterical laughter. Temari wasn't surprised Gaara's sand had begun to occupy the room's airspace. It took a small while that lasted way too long for the room to quiet down again. As the blonde kunoichi kept looking through the scrolls and books her brother failed to keep in order, she listened to the conversation behind her.

"If it makes you feel any better, my headache is just as bad as yours." the redhead spoke, assumedly to the Kazekage. Unsurprisingly, he stayed silent. The young man with the straw hat laughed again and begun bugging the woman about something Temari didn't bother listening to. "Luffy, would you shut u-"

"Purupurupurupuru…" a strange noise interrupted the redhead's scolding. The occupants of the room seemed to be frozen in place as the noise kept going on and on until the woman unfroze with a strange jerk and reached into the back pocket of her jeans. Cheered on by the young man and the skeleton she pulled out a snail-like creature which seemed to have a strange windmill marking on its shell. Looking closer, the kunoichi noticed it was the same marking the woman had tattooed on her left arm.

"Hello!?" the woman spoke to the snail which made a small 'katcha' sound, opening its eyes. To the surprise of Temari and Gaara, the thing spoke back with a voice of a worried woman:

"Hello? Nami!"

"Robin!" the three strangers exclaimed in unison.

"Luffy? Brook? Thank god, you're there as well. I was worried you might've been violently separated from each other and ended up alone and mutilated." Temari watched fascinated as the snail suddenly changed its voice to that of a male and its expression from worried to horrified.

"Waah! Robin don't say things like that!" the snail yelled.

"Usopp! You're there too? Is there anyone else over there? Is everyone all right? What happened to the weird man?" Nami questioned.

"Franky is the only other one here. We ended up as the man's victims as well. Right after you too so we don't know about the others." the voice of a woman was back. The group's mood soured at the answer.

"Then…Where are you? The baby Den Den Mushi works so you can't be that far." the woman asked again. So the snail was a communication device? Gaara cleared his throat causing the group to freeze and the snail's face to morph into an expression of shock.

"You are not alone?" it, or the woman on the other side, asked. For a moment Temari thought the three would panic and do something drastic, but the young man with the straw hat surprised her.

"Don't worry, Robin! They're helping us out! Oh, and we're in some sort of desert place! Like Alabasta!" he yelled and grinned at the two siblings like the Kazekage hadn't just tried to kill his friend. The woman looked a little awkward but after a small pause just shrugged. Temari couldn't really tell about the skeleton.

"You're in Sunagakure, Land of Wind." she supplied for the group, wondering if Alabasta was even an actual place. She'd never heard of such. Luffy thanked her with a smile.

"…I see. We are somewhere in the Land of Sound." the mysterious woman spoke through the snail. "Could you tell us what direction is Sunagakure from here, miss—" she continued, asking for directions, and for the kunoichi's name while at it.

"Temari. The Land of Wind is almost directly to the south-west from there. The fastest way to here would be to travel through the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. Depending from where you are exactly, you'll need to go past Konoha and through Tanzaku Quarters. When you get to the desert…well, look for a village. There aren't really any waypoints or anything here…" Temari provided the information for the woman a little hesitantly. The woman seemed smart, smart enough for the kunoichi to be a bit wary of her.

"Temari-san? Would you mind keeping company to our friends for a while longer? I'm going to contact our other friend."

The kunoichi's day only got stranger afterwards when she took the three on a tour and was faced with lame skeleton jokes and saw the energetic skinny man eating a week's worth of food in a manner of hours. At the end of the day Temari was sharing her brother's headache.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sanji was almost pulling his hair in frustration. He, Zoro and Chopper had just found out where they were and if you asked Sanji, it was the worst possible place for them to end up. They were in the Land of Fire, only a few miles north of Konoha.

They had eventually managed to find a road among the countless trees. Then walking along it for a while they had come across an old lady running a store selling different kinds of trinkets. The trio had decided to take a break from walking and ask for their location. The old lady had turned out to be a very nice old woman, as she insisted on cooking for them too after hearing Zoro's stomach rumble. She even refused Sanji's offer to help.

And so the pirates had ended up sitting in front of the store waiting for the lady to cook.

Sanji was silently panicking and chain smoking as Chopper was having a conversation with some squirrels and Zoro was having a nap. He was thinking their situation over, his leg tapping the ground. He had had his suspicions when he had woken up, but to think they had actually ended up so close to his old home. The blonde was even more confused of exactly why he had woken up at all. Did the man not find the Kyūbi so he just dumped them to in the middle of nowhere? That didn't make sense.

Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, Sanji sighed and chose to think of something else. It was at that moment the elderly lady came out with three plates of potato soup.

"Here you go. I'm afraid it's not my best, I haven't had the chance to visit Konoha for groceries this week." she apologized as she handed down the plates, placing one on the ground so the sleeping swordsman could pick it up when he wakes up. Chopper ran to take a plate with joy bringing a smile to the old lady's face as well.

"We really can't thank you enough for your kindness, ma'am. There was really no need for a lady such as yourself to feed complete strangers like us." the blonde thanked the woman for at least the tenth time already. Zoro, who had opened his eyes the moment he smelled food, rolled his eyes but wisely chose to keep quiet. The old lady blushed and laughed behind her hand.

"My, you don't need to keep on flattering me. I'm just a lonely old hag who hardly gets any visitors anymore." the lady spoke, still giggling a little. Sanji felt the corners of his mouth curling up at the woman's embarrassment, he always enjoyed bringing a smile to a woman's face, old or not.

"Don't be like that, ma'am. It's a policy of mine to treat every woman with respect and give them the attention they deserve." he gushed and grinned charmingly at the lady who blushed again. Zoro snorted. "Speaking of respect…Thank the nice lady, marimo." the blonde sneered at the green haired swordsman, kicking the man in the shin lightly. The two men begun bickering at each other, the food forgotten. The old woman watched the scene in shock.

"It's okay to ignore them." Chopper consoled the lady. "They do this all the time." The old lady blinked and sat down to have a conversation with the furry doctor.

The argument between the two pirates kept getting more and more violent with every minute it went on and so by the ten minute mark, Zoro had pulled out all his three swords in frustration and Sanji was five seconds away from lighting his foot on fire.

"So are we going to this Konoha place then or..?" the high voice of the small reindeer piped up when the vein in the blonde's forehead begun to throb a little too much. The pirate chef was silently very glad the swordsman spent all his time training. Otherwise, the way he froze in place hearing the name of the village, he would've been cut in half.

"Err—I don't think that's necessary. Let's just go the other way…" he suggested with a shaky voice. Sanji felt his hands getting sweaty seeing Chopper furrow his brows. He pretended not to see the swordsman's accusing gaze that made him feel incredibly guilty for some reason.

"If you go that way you won't find civilization for days." the woman said, watching the chef's fidgeting with confusion. He lit himself another cigarette trying his best to come up with an excuse to avoid the village. He hardly had the chance to say anything though when Zoro decided to butt in:

"Have you been to Konoha or something?" The blonde's mind went blank.

**xxxOPNxxx**

The green haired swordsman knew he had hit the nail on the head the moment the blonde flinched and turned his head to stare at the ground.

"…No." the cook said and Zoro frowned. He looked at the old woman for a second, contemplating whether or not to have the conversation somewhere else, before dismissing the idea, she didn't seem the gossiping type.

"Cut the crap, cook. Why do want to avoid going to Konoha?" he questioned, crossing his arms. The blonde swallowed, his eyes darting around to look at anything else but the swordsman. When the answer seemed to take its sweet time, Zoro started to tap his arm with his fingers. After a few more seconds he opened his mouth to ask again, but seeing the furry doctor move forward, he stayed quiet.

"Sanji, it's okay. You can tell us." Chopper spoke soothingly, tugging the fabric of the cook's pants. The reindeer looked disappointed when the blonde still stayed silent. The swordsman watched as the doctor peered from under his hat and asked with teary eyes: "Don't you trust us?"

Zoro would never admit it but the reindeer looked adorable like that. Sanji seemed to agree as his visible eye softened and turned to look at Chopper.

"It has nothing to do with that, Chopper. I just-"

"Purupurupurupuru." the familiar ring of a Den Den Mushi interrupted whatever the curly browed cook was about to say. Looking incredibly relieved he didn't have to tell them anything at the moment, the blonde answered the baby Den Den Mushi he'd pulled from his pocket.

"Sanji! Thank god, you're okay!" Usopp's voice screeched from the snail. If the swordsman remembered correctly the sniper was with Robin and Franky. Chopper seemed to completely forget they were interrogating the cook.

"We got Franky and Robin on this side. Nami, Luffy and Brook managed to stay together too…" the long nosed sniper said next, easing Zoro's worries a bit. He'd been wondering if the others were all right. Now they only needed to meet up and find a way back to the Sunny.

"Wait…Where are you guys anyway? Luffy's group is in Sunagakure, I think, and we're somewhere in the Land of Sound…Right, Robin?" Usopp piped up suddenly. The swordsman noticed the cook's eye widening as if he'd had some sort of a realization. Zoro narrowed his eye.

"According to this nice lady, we're somewhere north of Konoha, Land of Fire." Chopper answered, apparently ignorant to the blonde's horror.

"That's great! According to this woman Luffy and the others ran into, Konoha is almost right between Wind and Sound! We can meet over there and—"

"NO!"

A heavy silence followed Sanji's out of nowhere scream. The green haired man would've kept staring at the blonde but Chopper had managed to jump on his face, completely blocking his sight. He was sure he had fur in his mouth.

"Chopper, get off!" he ordered as Franky inquired about the outburst from the cook who fell quiet again except for the angry muttering, at most likely himself. The reindeer hopped off with a small apology and Zoro could see the blonde's cancer stick almost torn in half.

"…Sanji, is there something you'd like to share?" Robin asked, slight suspicion coating her voice. He didn't react quite as strongly to the questioning of the woman as he did to the swordsman. Zoro found himself getting angry at the realization.

The cook looked off to his side, scuffling his other foot around a bit. He contemplated a while longer before sighing, swallowing and then taking a deep breath. The swordsman got the feeling they'd come across the number one source of the blonde's nightmares, at least before Sabaody Archipelago. He had heard terrified mumbles about 'shitty okamas' a few times in the men's quarters at night…

"I—I'm sorry, Robin-chwan, but I don't think this is the time…" the curly browed man spoke after the shipwright on the other side of the Den Den Mushi called his name to make sure he was still there.

"I see. Would it be better for us to meet at Tanzaku Quarters?" the archaeologist suggested next. Another silent pause followed before Sanji decided to surprise them:

"No. No, it's fine. I'll—I'll deal with it. Let's meet in Konoha."


	5. Chapter 5

**gunslayer12:**** Yes, Sanji's appearance is the same as in canon. It'll be explained later so that's that.**

**ivan0061509:**** Kyūbi's disappearance will be explained later too, don't worry.**

**aki-senpai:**** (About Zoro and Sasuke both liking Sanji and fighting each other for him) That isn't a bad idea and I got a few ideas for it too. I'll consider it. :)**

**Thanks for all the reviews and favorites!**

**xxxOPNxxx**

During a peaceful afternoon in Konohagakure, a lone woman vacated the third training ground. She was of average build and had short pink hair. She sighed leaning back on her heels. She stared at the ground for a while, snapping her head up the moment a cloud of smoke poofed into existence in front of her.

"You're late again, Kakashi-sensei…" she deadpanned, lifting her hands to rest on her hips. The man who appeared with the smoke rubbed the back of his head, chuckling lightly.

"I'm not your sensei anymore, you know…" he said, choosing not to bother with his normal excuses. Sakura shrugged uncaringly and Kakashi let the issue be. He still viewed the now twenty or something woman as his student after all. "Shall we go then?" the silver haired ninja suggested, smiling behind his mask and gesturing for the woman to take the lead.

After Naruto's disappearance, the two of them, along with Iruka, had taken a habit of meeting for ramen every week, the ritual only interrupted by long missions. Every once in a while, the two remaining members of the legendary three ninja joined them, when Jiraya wasn't out of town that is.

"So, Sakura, anything interesting happened while I was gone?" the silver haired shinobi asked. He wasn't really one for small talk, but having returned from a two month long mission where the only people he met had been the enemy, isolating himself into his apartment didn't sound too appealing.

"Nothing really. The same as always." she answered, but proceeded to chatter about small insignificant things to fill the silence, such as the growing popularity of the Yamanaka flower shop and the rumor that Hinata had taken a liking to Kiba. Kakashi wasn't really listening though and he was sure the kunoichi knew that, but he appreciated the background noise for his thoughts as they walked.

As he absently waved at some of their friends the two saw on Konoha's busy streets, Kakashi started to wonder when the walking had become part of the ritual. They used to just meet at Ichiraku Ramen, like Iruka decided to today, but at some point they took to meeting at some of the training grounds or outside the academy. Maybe it was after that incident with Konohamaru and the chicken…

"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?"

Sakura stopped talking and Kakashi blinked. In a manner of fact, half the occupants of the street stopped in their tracks at the loud yell that was immediately answered by a deeper voice shouting just as loud:

"I'M WALKING DOWN THE STREET, MORON!"

The two ninjas glanced at each other sensing a fight, and begun to push their way through the crowd to better see the commotion and possibly stop any violence, if any would occur. They kept their attention on the argument.

"THEN WHY ARE YOU HEADING TOWARDS AN ALLEY, MOSS HEAD!?"

"I WAS NOT! YOU LOSING YOUR MIND SHIT COOK!?"

"DID YOU JUST INSULT MY COOKING, YOU GOD DAMN—"

The first voice then proceeded to yell out profanities foul enough to make Kiba proud. The silver haired man could see some parents covering their children's ears with horrified looks on their faces. Kakashi's attention was immediately focused back on the task as his sensitive hearing caught the metallic sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath. He pushed past the last few people blocking his view and was faced with an odd sight.

There were two men in the middle of the small clearing the bystanders had formed. Two very odd men. As odd as the jōnins of Konoha at least.

The first man had blonde hair that covered the right side of his face. He was wearing what looked like a very expensive suit. A civilian would've assumed he might've been some sort of an important businessman of sorts or something of the like, but to the eye of the copy ninja the man was anything but. The man did have some dignity and graze in the way he held himself despite looking like would want nothing else than attack the other man before him, but the ninja could see he was just as strong as the other man seemed to be. The blonde looked a little familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place in what way. Maybe the cigarette and the goatee reminded him of Asuma…

The other man was what Kakashi assumed to be a samurai of the Land of the Iron without the armor. He had green hair and scar over his left eye, similar to the one the shinobi himself had under his headband. It was on the same side too… The man was dressed in a long green coat left partially open to reveal a long scar across his chest. He also had three swords hanging on his right hip, one of which Kakashi alarmingly noted was already occupying the man's other hand.

Both of the men were dangerous to everyone around them and the silver haired ninja could see it. He decided it best to interfere before any damage could be done and any blows could be thrown. So he cleared his throat, hoping the men could hear him over their insults. And as he already expected, neither did. For a brief moment Kakashi was reminded of Naruto and Sasuke fighting over some silly thing, before brushing the thought away. Now was not the time.

"EXCUSE ME!" Kakashi shouted when he noticed neither of the men had spotted him coming to stand right next to them. The men jumped at the unfamiliar voice joining their yelling and whipped around to face the newcomer. The shinobi noted with amusement that the blonde on looked slightly embarrassed. He seemed to finally realize they were in a public place and there were a lot of people around, including kids. The green haired man just seemed annoyed.

"What do you want?" the samurai grumbled, glaring at Kakashi. His angry expression, doubled with the fact that he had only one eye and a katana on his hand, gave a rather terrifying impression. The copy ninja ignored it. Wasn't the first scary face he'd come across.

"You two are causing a scene." he said, almost forgetting to answer as he eyed a reindeer with clothes and a backpack that seemed to appear out of nowhere, coming next to the two men. Maybe it was a summoning creature…

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sanji was nearly hyperventilating again. They hadn't been in the village for longer than an hour and they had already ran into someone he knew. Even worse, he could see a pink haired woman that could only be Sakura.

He realized, as he lit himself another cigarette that the green haired swordsman kept glancing at him. Did he expect the blonde would take care the socializing? He tensed when his old teacher turned his gaze on him as if sensing that out of the two, he would be the one to handle the talking. They had agreed Chopper should keep quiet for a while.

Sanji swallowed and saw Sakura heading over them as well. His life might as well end here.

"Can you direct us to the nearest hotel or inn?"

The blonde chef looked at Zoro in shock. The green haired man looked a bit frustrated but nevertheless sheathed his sword and turned fully towards Kakashi, taking over the conversation and the ninja's attention.

"…Head towards that way and turn right when the road ends. There's an inn at the end of the street." the silver haired man said and pointed the way they had been walking before fight. Sanji refrained from sighing in relief and turned to walk away with his crewmates when he did something he regretted immediately. He made eye contact with Sakura.

He felt himself freezing in place as the kunoichi stared curiously back at him. He knew that with every fraction of a second he stayed in place he'd be rising the suspicion of the two ninjas, he could see Sakura narrowing her eyes already, so he did the only thing he could think of.

"Mellorine~~ A beautiful woman!" he swooned and wriggled his way over and forced himself to take her hands between his own. "My name is Sanji. What might you name be my lady?" the blonde haired chef asked keeping his facial features locked on a charming smile and wide love struck eyes. With an inward cringe he noticed his former teammate's features morphing into confusion.

He hoped she wouldn't classify him as a pervert. Usually he wouldn't mind getting beaten by a woman, but this was one of the two only women he wasn't really keen on crossing the wrong way with. The other one was Tsunade.

"H-Haruno Sakura." she stammered out after a few seconds of silence, glancing to her left where Sanji knew Kakashi was standing.

"A beautiful name for a very beautiful lady." he complimented, hoping to every god there was that his plan worked. He kept the kunoichi's hands stubbornly between his own even when she tried to pull away. Sanji made a mental note to kick himself for making a woman so uncomfortable. "So, Sakur—"

"Time to go, curly." the swordsman growled and Sanji felt something pull the back of his coat. Turning his head he saw the furry doctor tugging his coat hems with his teeth and an exasperated sigh. He let himself be pulled away pretending to put up a fight.

The blonde failed to see Kakashi cast a suspicious glance directed at him as he smiled and waved at Sakura.

**xxxOPNxxx**

After a few wrong turns and backtracking, thanks to a certain swordsman, the three pirates had finally managed to get to the inn and book a room for two. Though it being an inn with the 'no animals' policy, it took a small effort to convince the owner that Chopper was well trained and wouldn't make a mess. Something the reindeer wasn't happy about.

Convincing the manager to let them stay for free was a little more difficult since they didn't have the right currency. So in the end the inn's manager made a deal with Sanji that the chef would help in the kitchen for all the evenings and they could stay as long as they wanted.

Currently the three were lounging in their room, discussing where they were going to meet up with the rest of their crew. More accurately, two of the three were planning. Zoro was testing the bed. Not sleeping mind you, he got kicked if he tried.

"So we agree; no restaurants or anything. Luffy will eat them out." the curly browed cook sighed.

"Maybe a landmark, so they'll really find it. Like that huge tower or the mountain with all the faces on it." Chopper suggested, deflating a little when the blonde shook his head.

"Those areas are always full of people. We already caused unnecessary commotion on a street and we got the attention of a high level shinobi." he said and the green haired swordsman practically jumped up from the bed. The curly browed man grimaced as he realized his mistake and took to staring at a corner of the room in order to avoid eye contact.

"What the fuck is a shinobi and how do you know this?!" he exclaimed angrily, getting tired and confused of the other man's skittishness about the subject. From what Zoro could tell the blonde had at least been to Konoha before. He was glad Luffy wasn't with their group. The rubbery captain would order him to leave the cook alone, never being one to care about anyone's past. The swordsman decided to use this opportunity to get some answers.

"Well?" he prompted, stomping over to the bed the other two pirates were occupying. Chopper seemed to have realized what he was about to do, for he looked torn between stopping him and helping him. The furry reindeer at least seemed curious enough to assist him.

The green haired swordsman moved his sight back to the blonde and saw him play around with the pocket he kept his cancer sticks in. No doubt he wanted to pull one out, only restrained by the inn's rules.

Zoro would've not wanted nothing more than to shake some answers out of the cook, but he resisted the urge noticing the other man was clearly contemplating what to tell. Or how to get out the situation. Either way he let the blonde make the next move.

Hopefully it wasn't a stupid one.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"So in other words, you were born in Konoha." the furry doctor of the Strawhat pirates clarified after processing the story Sanji had just told them. "And the Five Great Shinobi Countries are in a different world from our own…?" he continued, still a little overwhelmed.

"As far as I can tell." the chef confirmed nodding. Chopper nodded slowly as well and then again faster as he accepted the fact. The green haired swordsman scoffed and shook his head.

"And what's the deal with avoiding this village? Would've expected you to be happy about visiting your hometown." he muttered, raising his eyebrow. Chopper wasn't sure why the man looked so mad when Sanji finally told them about his hometown, but he wasn't about to question him and chance making him even angrier.

"For fucks sake, moss for brains! Is it so hard to comprehend that there might be a reason I left in the first place?!" the blonde snapped, but instead of raising his voice like he would usually do when arguing with Zoro, his voice had a cold undertone in it, so the reindeer knew the man was truly upset and sore about the subject. The doctor sighed in relief when the swordsman just snorted, walked to his bed and lied down.

"So…When the others arrive, could you give us a tour?" the small pirate asked timidly, a little afraid he might offend the blonde. Though Chopper did feel incredibly proud of himself for breaking the awkward silence the group had fallen into. He was relieved when the man gave him a small smile and a nod.

**xxxOPNxxx**

A dignified voice of a female rang through a forest clearing:

"_Ocho Fleur: Clutch!_"

Accompanied by the yell was four pairs of arm sprouting both from the ground and the back of the terrified sound ninja. The young shinobi felt himself being grabbed by his arms, legs and under his chin, two hands pressing into the small of his back. He was then pulled backwards forcefully, even when the boy did his best to struggle against them.

With a small crack, the ninja found himself restrained in a position he could not get out of, his arms too far away from each other to form any seals and his weapons inaccessible.

The youth felt his heartbeat quickening with every step the tall exotic woman took towards him. On her face was a smile so sweet it couldn't anything else but malicious. Even the two men behind her, who the shinobi assumed to be her friends with the way they had been interacting with each other, looked slightly disturbed at their companion's cruel expression.

"Now then. We are going to need some information." she said, almost purring the words out. The boy wasn't surprised. There was no other reason for him to be alive still. Too bad for the woman that he wasn't telling anything. He was trained to be silent in situations like this, even when under immense pain.

Despite being confident the group wouldn't get the info they needed, the shinobi still swallowed as the dark haired beauty leaned forward to talk to him face to face. He felt a drop of cold sweat dripping down his neck as he prepared himself for anything. Nothing could be as bad as the pain Lord Orochimaru had made him and his friends go through if a mission was failed.

"What is chakra? How does it work? Are we anywhere near the Grand Line?" she inquired softly, her questions so innocent and contradicting to the cruel smile she wore, the shinobi had to blink a couple of times, wondering whether or not to answer. Eventually he gave in, seeing no harm telling her what he had thought to be basic knowledge:

"C-chakra is energy, physical and spiritual. Every living thing contains chakra. I-it flows through your chakra pathway system and is needed in every single one of the shinobi arts." The woman raised a curious eyebrow and the boy continued: "I…don't know what the Grand Line is…"

All of the three strangers looked shocked at this revelation, as if they couldn't quite believe there was someone who had never heard of such a thing. The shinobi was beginning to think they might as well been from a different world entirely, with how they were acting.

The woman smiled again suddenly, unnerving the ninja. Did he say something wrong? Was she going to kill him for not knowing the answer? Looking at the smile on the woman's face made him afraid of his own life. The boy had killed and had seen others die, but he had never himself been near death.

"I see. Thank you for your help. Could you give us directions to Konohagakure?" she asked, getting over her surprise. The shinobi told her about the map he held in his weapon pouch, only seconds before his sight dimmed to black.

**xxxOPNxxx**

The three pirates watched the unconscious body of the boy flop down to the ground as Robin de-activated her devil fruit and bent to pick up the map the boy had told them about. The boy couldn't be any older than fourteen, yet he carried around sharp knives and other possibly dangerous weapons like he was used to it.

"…Was it really necessary to knock him out?" the long nosed sniper asked after a small silence where they had processed the information given to them. He had chills from the archaeologist's scary act. He still wasn't sure, whether or not the woman had actually been an assassin before joining the Strawhats.

"He is trained to kill. Had I not knocked him out, he might've come after us." she said, smiling over her shoulder brightly.

Usopp stared at her in an exasperated fashion, barely feeling the cyborg pat him on the back comfortingly.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sakura sighed as she leant back on her front door she had just closed behind her. She was finally home.

Her day had gotten tiring after meeting the two strange men in the street. The blonde man had been charming in his own way but there was something about him that made her a little uncomfortable.

Afterwards when they reached Ichiraku Ramen, Kakashi told her and the scar faced academy teacher that he got an odd feeling of familiarity out of the man with the strange eyebrows. In fact, the same kind of feeling Sakura herself had gotten while staring into the bright eyes of the man.

As her sight spotted the years old picture of Team 7, her mind still haunted by the odd man, the kunoichi realized what had caused the feeling.

The man with the strange eyebrows had the same eyes as Naruto.

Sakura froze in place the moment the thought cut through her mind. She went and grabbed the picture, looking at it closer. In her mind she could still see the man's azure eyes, staring into hers lovingly. A little like Naruto used to do before they became a proper team.

At first she had thought the man was some sort of a creeper, but thinking back on it, there had been a hint of desperation and fear, as if he had wanted to run away as fast he could.

But there's no way he could be the hyperactive, bright ninja that used to terrorize Konoha with his pranks back all those years ago, could he?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6!**

**Nothing to say here this time. Happy New Year!**

**xxxOPNxxx**

"I have news for you." a distorted voice spoke, cutting the heavy silence around nine shadows gathered together. "The nine-tails jinchūriki has been located." the voice continued and got varying reactions in return.

"Seriously?! About fucking time!" exclaimed one of the shadows, its purple eyes being it's only distinguishable feature. The shadow was scolded for his behavior by the green and red eyed figure next to him, causing an argument.

"Where is the kyūbi container then?" a blue eyed figure questioned, his ponytail swaying a bit as he turned to see the owner of the first voice.

"His exact location is unknown, but he should be somewhere around the Land of Fire." the voice answered, letting his ringed eyes display his distain at the scuffle that was still going on between the two previous shadows.

"…But you just said—"

"I know what I said." the first shadow growled darkly at the blue eyed figure, who shut his mouth immediately. "Perhaps I should elaborate. The jinchūriki has been brought back from whatever realm he had been transported into nine years ago." The shadow paused to look at his subordinates before locking his eyes onto two of them. "Sasori. Deidara. You two are to search and retrieve Naruto Uzumaki."

The blue eyed figure gave a shout, but didn't otherwise voice his complaint. A grouched figure next to him grunted in acknowledgement.

"Good. The rest of you can now continue to look for the other tailed beasts. The Akatsuki shall make an appearance once again."

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sanji let out a relieved sigh. He walked out of the store with his new pack of cigarettes, hastily pulling one out immediately. While his hard work in the inn's kitchen provided the pirates with a place to stay, the blonde had still found a way to earn a little money. Thanks to his experience at Baratie he was accustomed to cooking, waiting, fighting and running a chaotic kitchen staff, not that his life was any easier after joining the Strawhat pirates. So using his skills of multitasking, Sanji had surprised the employees of the inn and gained a small paycheck.

Taking a deep breath he turned to walk down the street, subtly turning to walk behind a long middle aged woman as he spotted someone in a green jumpsuit. He wondered briefly if the man was Rock Lee or his mentor. The blonde didn't dare to look closer.

Slowly the cigarette's calming effect begun to take place and Sanji felt the tension in his shoulders unwinding a little. Realizing that no one glared at him when he walked past them or threw insults at him for looking at them, the blonde relaxed even more and eventually fell into a familiar routine. The routine he did every time he explored a town or a city on a new island.

He hummed an old sailor song under his breath as he eyed a small convenience store with a fruit stall beside the front door. Maybe he should buy some exotic fruit and make a sweet snack for Chopper. He thought bitterly that the marimo headed swordsman would just insult him whether or not he made him anything or not.

Lost in his thoughts, the blonde failed to see where he was walking until he bumped into something. Realizing it was a person, he begun to apologize only stop midway. The person standing in front of him was a person he was familiar with despite the fact he hadn't seen him in years.

Sanji cursed.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Hey, Shikamaru. You know your mom is looking for you, right?" a chubby looking man said, looking down at his friend lying down on the ground. The said friend had his hands behind his head, providing a cushion for the back of his head. The man sighed tiredly, shifting his gaze from the clouds above to his friend sitting on his right.

"Does she need eggs again?" he asked, sighing again when the other man nodded sympathetically. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and turned to watch the clouds again, trying to remember if the stores around the area sold the brand his mother preferred so he wouldn't need to go to the other side of the village.

Anyone who didn't know him would've found it strange that the twenty-two year old man hadn't moved out to live on his own yet, especially when the said man found the chores and his mother's nagging tiresome and annoying. Those who were familiar with the lazy shinobi, didn't even bother asking questions. After all, why would a man who can barely get out of bed on his own, give up free meals and a place to sleep in by moving out to live by himself.

Feeling his best friend nudge his side, Shikamaru dragged himself up and took off to find the nearest store, waving his friend goodbye.

Setting his feet on auto-pilot, the shinobi let his mind wander again. He tried to recall if Tsunade had given him any urgent orders or the like lately and then going through his mental calendar, realizing that Ino's birthday was coming up soon. Eventually, for the lack of anything better to think, his mind brought up a conversation he had with the said woman.

The kunoichi had told him about two men she had seen arguing in the middle of the street, almost right in front of the flower shop. He had almost ignored her story completely, since it started with a detailed description of all the features she had found attractive about the two, but there was something about a samurai and a gentleman with curled eyebrows that kept his attention in. A samurai on its own was a rare enough in Land of Fire, but one with three swords…

Shikamaru was shaken out of his thoughts by a man knocking into him. A man with curled eyebrows no less. Weird coincidence.

"Sh-iit. Sorry." the man stuttered out nervously. There was something weird about the pause on his curse, like he had been about to say something else but changed it mid-way. Shikamaru chose to ignore it.

"No problem." he said. "You a tourist? Haven't seen you around before." the shinobi asked conversationally, not sure why he bothered, but he bet it had something to do with the weird nagging thought at the back of his head. Subconsciously he made certain connections and notes about the stranger and in seconds he had made a hypothesis. As he listened the man say he had arrived yesterday, Shikamaru decided to try and confirm his suspicions.

As his eyes spotted the cigarette package in the man's hands, the shinobi noted the blonde's nervousness and crossed it as the first sign confirming his theory.

"That's good brand." he stated pointing his finger at the pack. The man nodded.

"Yeah, I've seen it around so I decided to buy a pack. You want one?" the man answered hesitantly, which could've been because he was having a random talk with a complete stranger in the middle of an almost empty street, but the blonde didn't seem the shy type. Shikamaru nodded his head and took the offered stick, fishing around for his lighter. Finally locating the thing in the upper left pocket of his vest, the shinobi lit the cigarette and thought of the next thing to say, not worrying about the man just running away despite his discomfort. After a few puffs of smoke, he chose to try and lead the blond to a trap.

"You ever been here before?" he asked, keeping a close eye on every reaction shown. The man twitched almost unnoticeably and looked like he had to force himself to keep his blue eye locked into Shikamaru's own. As the lazy man predicted, the answer was negative, though it seemed the man knew he didn't sound convincing. That was easier than anticipated.

The blonde bit his lip and slumped down, as Shikamaru stared at him with a raised eyebrow. Though still on his guard, the blonde gave up.

"You know." he said, not elaborating any further, but Shikamaru understood. The blonde glanced around the street, most likely looking for any eavesdroppers, before turning back to the shinobi and raising his hand and introduced himself: "Sanji."

Shikamaru caught the silent message; _'I am no longer Naruto.'_ Deciding to keep up the appearance, the shinobi gave his own name in return, knowing full well a good eavesdropper wouldn't be seen so easily. Seeing that the other man looked unsure and a tad bit afraid, he recalled the protocol when talking to a shock victim. It didn't exactly match the situation, but he should at least try to calm the blonde down.

"We can talk somewhere private…" Shikamaru suggested, watching as the other man nodded sharply and turned to lead the way. It seemed like he knew this wasn't a situation he could avoid.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Here what do you think of this one?"

Zoro gazed at the colored drawing the small doctor had practically shoved in his face. The picture had three figures in it and judging by the certain colors and a few very distinctive body parts, they represented Luffy, Usopp and the doctor himself.

"It nice. Usopp's nose looks really accurate." he commented, watching the reindeer grin excitedly and go back to drawing. The swordsman sighed. He was prohibited from going anywhere and so he'd ended up just sitting on one of the beds, watching and complimenting Chopper's pictures. Not like he minded the small doctor's company, but he was getting bored. At least with the cook around he could do and say almost whatever he wanted and get rewarded with a workout.

Part of his mind said that he didn't mind the blonde's bright red face when he was angry either, but the swordsman brushed it off quickly.

Focusing on the furry reindeer drawing what seemed to be the crew's musician, Zoro almost missed the curly browed cook's presence coming closer to the inn. He only raised his head though when he sensed another presence with him. It was a lazy and calm presence and if it weren't for the fact that the cook seemed uneasy, he would've ignored it.

Chopper seemed to notice his sudden alertness, as he looked up from his work and smelled the air as if it would hold the answer to his question. It seemed to do exactly that, because the reindeer's eyes lit up in joy. He must've been bored as well.

The two of them probably looked a little odd, staring at the door so attentively, but the green haired man didn't care. He wanted to know who the strange presence with the cook belonged to. It wasn't anyone in the crew.

After a small while, the two pirates heard a key slide into the door's lock and saw it open to reveal the blonde cook followed by another man. The man had a spiky ponytail at the top of his head, but aside from that there was nothing interesting to note about the person.

Sanji's face was outwardly calm and stoic, but the swordsman could see an emotion underneath. He couldn't tell what emotion, but whatever it was it was clearly an uncomfortable feeling. Zoro made sure to keep his expression neutral, but he couldn't deny he disliked the man before he had even said a word. Chopper shifted uneasily as well.

The man watched the two of them curiously, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of Chopper, who half hid behind the swordsman's back. The stranger wisely averted his eyes, probably sensing the reindeer didn't like to be stared at. The cook coughed awkwardly.

"Right. This is Shikamaru." he said, pausing to swallow. He then pointed at the furry reindeer, in order to introduce him. "That is Chopper and the bastard he's trying to hide behind is Zoro." the cook muttered, his face lightening a little at the familiar sight of the doctor hurriedly switching his position so he could peek around the swordsman's back correctly.

"Why is he here?" the green haired swordsman asked, confused about the blonde's behavior. "I thought you didn't want to be here and now you're up and about meeting your friends. You have PMS or something?" he continued. The blonde responded immediately, his face reddening in anger and mouth turning down into a scowl.

"What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Just. Say. Marimo." he growled, his teeth grinding together. Zoro smirked arrogantly as he received a reaction he was pleased with. Violent Sanji was the best Sanji. No pretending or hiding his feeling this way. The swordsman kept his eye locked on the blonde's own, but he could still see the stranger raising his eyebrow in curiosity.

"I asked if you have PM—"

The swordsman dodged a foot determined to kick his head right off. The blonde looked downright murderous at having his manhood questioned, even if it was by the one who did it regularly.

Zoro could feel his blood pounding through his veins in excitement, as he slid over to his swords and grabbed them, dodging another kick thrown in his way. The two of them hadn't had a proper fight after their reunion, the small scuffle at the old lady's house didn't count, and the swordsman was looking forward to seeing the results of the cook's training himself. He had seen him fight on Fishman-island, but facing off against him was an entirely different experience.

Sanji seemed to have the same idea. His furious expression didn't change, but the swordsman could see a glint of the same excitement in the narrowed blue eye of the cook.

Zoro grinned as he brought Shūsui up to block a foot headed for his collarbone. He planned to swing at the blonde from the side with Wado, but he didn't have the time as another leg was aimed at his chin.

As he leaned back from the strong leg, he heard the furry doctor pleading for them to stop. He dismissed the reindeer though, as he kept his focus on the blonde in front of him. Zoro knew the man was venting off the frustration and stress he had pent up since their arrival on him. And the swordsman was more than happy to give back everything he got.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Shikamaru kept a close eye on the fight before him. He knew he should stop the two men from breaking anything, but his curiosity stopped him.

His position as the Hokage's advisor gave him certain privileges. Such as the S-ranked files concerning the disappearance of Naruto Uzumaki. The genius ninja knew some other shinobi from their generation were aware about the circumstances concerning the disappearance, but generally the reasons were kept hidden.

So naturally, knowing about the former ninja's lack of the ability to mold chakra, Shikamaru wanted to see how the man fought years after. It was obvious he knew how. The shinobi could tell that even before he spoke to the blonde. What surprised the genius was the fact that the blonde only used his legs.

The said blonde bent back to dodge one of Zoro's three swords, lifting himself on his hands, bringing his leg up with so much power, that if the other man hadn't leant away, he would have a broken neck. With an impressed raise of an eyebrow, the shinobi watched Sanji do a standing split with so little effort that he must have done it a dozen times before.

Shikamaru didn't only gawk at the blonde's impressive display of taijutsu, but also at the other man's skills with the swords. Every move was carefully planned and on mark, not even slightly off. He could see the power behind the swings and slashes, making Sanji's blocks even more impressive as he stopped the blades in mid-swing instead of just blatantly dodging them.

It hit the shinobi suddenly that the small furry creature was screaming, yelling at the two men to stop fighting least they'll bring down the whole building. Noticing the antlers, Shikamaru realized it—he, was a reindeer. He wondered why he hadn't realized earlier, he would've usually, but then decided he must've dismissed the thought completely because of the oddness.

"…Are you a summoning creature of some sort?" he asked, successfully pulling the creature's attention from the two men. He gave up on the thought of stopping them. Too troublesome to force them apart.

"A summoning creature? No, I'm a reindeer." Chopper asked confusedly and Shikamaru figured he had never heard of the term.

"Never mind." he muttered and fell silent again, waiting for the battle to stop.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Now that you've calmed down, can we get back to business?" Shikamaru asked after a good half an hour of yelling and arguing.

The two men had fought until they were full of bruises and cuts, and even then the furry reindeer had to pull them apart since they both refused to give in to the other, wrestling on the ground in order to gain an upper hand. It was a miracle the room was still intact.

The two were being tended by Chopper, who was grumbling under his breath at the two. Sanji would've felt sorry for the doctor if it weren't for the fact that he was finally able to relax. He didn't even care about Shikamaru in the room. In fact, he was sure he could take on anything by this point. The blonde shrugged his shoulders, gesturing for the ninja to go on.

"Why did you come back?" he asked sounding curious instead of accusing. The chef could feel his crewmates' attention on him, but he refused to get bothered by it this time, especially as he was finally calm.

"I didn't intend to." he answered truthfully, keeping his tone neutral in order to not sound offensive. Shikamaru didn't show any signs of offence so he didn't explain himself. "Moreover, can you keep my presence here secret?" Sanji asked with a serious look at the shinobi, who stared back silently and nodded, without asking for a reason. Something the blonde was grateful for.

The blonde chef winced as some of the antiseptic Chopper was using was pressed on one of the bigger wounds he had on his arm. He almost pulled the arm back, but the doctor had a firm grip on him, making his effort fruitless.

"So what have you been doing since you left?" Shikamaru asked, breaking the silence that had fallen into the room.

"I'm a chef." the blonde said simply, deciding to keep his identity as a pirate secret. He knew he could trust Shikamaru, but he wanted to sort some things out before going around telling people he had become part of a different world. Because that was what happened. He didn't feel like he belonged in the world of the shinobi's anymore. He'd been living at the sea for too long.

The shinobi respected his privacy and didn't ask further but moved to talk about other things, such as what had happened in Konoha while he was away and the like.

Had Sanji not realized it himself already, he would've felt upset that the whole prospect of bring Sasuke back to Konoha had been abandoned years ago. As it was, there was just a brief throb of nostalgia at the thought of his old rival.

**xxxOPNxxx**

To say Sasuke was shocked was an understatement.

Team Hebi had been heading towards the Land of Frost, when they had ran into Kisame Hoshigaki, their target's partner in crime. Obviously the first conclusion the group had come to was that they had gotten lucky, only to be disappointed when they realized the older Uchiha was nowhere near them. And if the blue skinned was to be trusted, he didn't know where the man was either. Apparently the two had split up in order to do something the shark man wasn't willing to reveal.

The raven haired missing-nin had had half a mind to try and torture out some information or something, when the shark man dropped the figurative bomb with a devious grin.

Apparently, Naruto had appeared back to the Five Great Shinobi Nations after years of disappearance.

As for how Sasuke knew the blonde had ran away. He had heard it from Sakura.

Around two years after his own runaway, the pink haired kunoichi had appeared to one of Orochimaru's old hideouts in order to get him back again, together with a stoic looking man and a boy. He had questioned why Naruto hadn't appeared there as well, admittedly a little hurt, thinking his rival had given up on him, despite the blonde sacrificing all his time on getting back the raven haired teen.

He hadn't expected his old teammate to turn cold, her voice turning heavy with guilt and anger, and tell him that the blonde had disappeared on his training journey with the legendary Toad Sage.

At first he hadn't know what the bang of hurt he felt back then had been, but after a year or so he had come to the conclusion that he really liked the blonde ninja. He refused to call it love; that was way too strong of a feeling. Though if he had to pick someone he felt anything resembling love to, he would still pick Naruto. If only because the boy had been the only person he had ever gotten really close to. He never had the same thing with Sakura, with her crush stopping her from getting to know him properly.

He had actually been relieved when the girl hadn't started swooning the moment she spotted him.

Shaking himself out of his memories, the Uchiha focused back on the present. He knew he should probably get back to chasing Itachi, but he had a sudden urge to visit Konoha. So swiftly turning around he ordered his current teammates to follow, showing no outward emotion when the blue skinned man burst out laughing, as if knowing exactly where the group was going to be headed next.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"You can control bugs?! That's so cool!" Luffy shouted excitedly, staring at the hooded man with sunglasses covering his eyes.

The three pirates had been about to leave Sunagakure when Temari, who Nami had managed to make friends with, had told them that a three-man team of Konoha's shinobi had come to the village a while ago and was heading back to Konohagakure in a day or so. She suggested that the three pirates went with the shinobi so they wouldn't get lost on their way.

And so four men, two women and a dog had started their journey to Konoha, the three shinobi introducing themselves as Hinata, Kiba and Shino, two of which were happy to help the pirates. The dog was named Akamaru.

The two different groups had been walking peacefully when the conversation about their abilities had come up. The pirates being curious as to what shinobi were capable of and vice versa. The ninjas had been wary of the three a first, as most people were when meeting pirates, but when they realized they had no ill intentions, warmed up to them, asking about their lifestyle and getting to know them. Which brought them back to the present situation.

Nami threw a disgusted look at her captain, not understanding what part about bugs living inside a person was 'cool'. Giving one last shudder at the thought, she stepped out from behind the skeleton she had been hiding behind, eyeing the hooded shinobi with suspicion.

"I can talk to dogs." Kiba threw in, looking eager to impress the rubber man, having hit it off with the guy. Luffy turned to look at the dog man, shoving a finger deep inside his nose.

"We have a doctor who can talk to all animals, not just dogs." he deadpanned. The red haired navigator watched as both the animalistic ninja and his dog both slumped down. She scrunched up her nose as the rubbery man pulled a huge bugger from the depths of his nose and then eating it after a bit of an examination.

This was going to be a long walk.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Crimson Fox19:**** Kyūbi will appear soon. I already have a scene planned for it and all, I just need to get there.**

**Cyrisist001: ****I agree, Law would need at least the basic knowledge on chakra, the chakra pathway system and all the pressure points in order to do that. But if he did, he'd probably invent a way to restore chakra pathways or something. He'd probably have a field trip if I'd included him in this story, just breaking in the hospital to steal some scrolls on illegal medical jutsu and having long complicated doctor talk with Tsunade and Chopper that no one else could understand. :P **

**Thanks for all the follows and favorites! I like to read the reviews too.**

**xxxOPNxxx**

To a passerby, Kakashi Hatake looked no different than usual. Icha Icha Paradise in hand he was parading through the streets of Konoha, dodging the crowd not lifting his eye from his book once. In truth however, he had been reading the same page for an hour, his mind occupied with something more important than porn.

Naruto had come back to the Elemental Nations.

The copy ninja hadn't realized it at first, focusing more on stopping the fight, but after thinking it through later, he had no doubt of the mysterious blonde's identity. The only reason he hadn't told Sakura was because he knew he had to report to Tsunade.

After the Hokage had gotten over the initial shock, a few weeks after Naruto ran away and almost right after Kakashi and Sakura had emptied Naruto's apartment, she had ordered Kakashi to see her immediately. Then, in the privacy of her office, the woman gave him a mission of upmost secrecy. She had given him a mission to bring back Naruto.

Though not because of personal reasons.

The silver haired ninja knew it had pained the woman to assign such a task, knowing she would be hurting the blonde ninja by stealing away his freedom. At the time however, both of them knew they couldn't let Naruto just wander about unprotected, practically offering himself for the Akatsuki.

So, as Sakura begun her training with Tsunade, Kakashi had taken off to search for his former student. He had trailed after the boy all the way to the Land of Water, only to find a ransacked antique store with no soul inside it, blood splattered around the floor. Talking to the shop owners nearby, the copy ninja found out, to his horror, that a man with a red-clouded cloak had come and caused chaos, taking the store owner with him.

Curiously, the young assistant of the store owner had been nowhere to be seen afterwards, as if he had disappeared to thin air. That bit of information had had Kakashi both sigh in relief and grit his teeth in frustration. At least Akatsuki hadn't gotten the boy, but then where was he?

The copy ninja had gotten his answer by searching the store further. He had found an interesting scroll. If it weren't for the smeared bloodstains leading up to it, he would have missed the thing completely. In the end, he'd rolled the thing up and returned to Konoha where Tsunade had done some excessive research. It had taken years, but she had found out nothing more than that the scroll had some sort of space-time seals. There had been nothing confirmed though, as they hadn't dared to test it.

Now after nine years the blonde was back, still alive and kicking, and Kakashi had to wonder as to how.

His steps faltering a bit, the shinobi thought back to the blonde's terrified, unsure eyes when he turned to look at him. The man had pretended he didn't know them. What was he afraid of?

The copy ninja stopped walking completely as he remembered seeing Shikamaru go with the blonde the previous day. Maybe he could ask the genius about the man. Can he really be blamed for wanting to see his former student?

Besides, he had a feeling Naruto's return wouldn't go unnoticed. It would be only a matter of time when Akatsuki came for him and the least the silver haired ninja could do is to make sure they wouldn't succeed in capturing him. If they would still bother with that after so many years…

Making his decision, Kakashi took off to find the lazy advisor of the Hokage.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Look, the storm is going to be here in just a few hours, if we keep walking this way, we'll end up stuck in it." Nami insisted, getting tired of the verbal argument she was in.

The group was half way to Konoha and had been picking up their pace when both the red haired navigator and the nin-dog informed the group about an incoming rain storm. The argument had started when Kiba refused to believe the navigator could predict when it would hit better than Akamaru.

"I don't want to sound offensive, Kiba-san, but I would suggest listening to Nami-san. As long as I've known her, her weather predictions have always been on mark." the tall skeleton defended his crewmate, lifting a bony finger to emphasize his point.

"Yeah! Nami's scary accurate!" the rubber man exclaimed, always standing by his friends. Unless he was fighting them that is.

"Generally, dogs should be more sensitive to sensing the air pressure. If Akamaru can't tell when the storm is coming, how could she?" the bug user reasoned. The argument only escalated afterwards. The red haired woman rubbed the space between her eyes as she realized she had been completely excluded from the exchange, the men doing the arguing for her. Honestly, she expected such from Sanji, not Luffy or Brook.

"I-I believe you. Akamaru's senses are good, b-but if you've never been wrong…" the only other woman stuttered out, stepping beside Nami to watch the scuffle. It seemed Shino and Brook had gotten tired of fighting, being the quiet calm people they were. The red haired smiled as she turned her head to talk to Hinata:

"Why thank you!" Her smile turned devious, a dark aura surrounding her very being as the two remaining men's yelling got even louder. The arguing duo never saw her coming.

"STOP FIGHTING!" she screamed loudly, hitting them both upside their head, knowing that the two were too stubborn to listen to her otherwise. Nami stared out to space, as her captain whined at her, the animalistic shinobi staring at the rubbery man in both pain and wonder. "Now listen here, dog boy, there is some really heavy rain heading the same way we are. So you'd better go ahead and help us look for cover or you'll be buying me a whole new outfit when this one gets ruined." the redhead ordered, daring the man to step against her, which she was clad to note he wasn't stupid enough to do. Even if Kiba did seem like a complete idiot.

**xxxOPNxxx**

"Eat shit you fucking mosshead!"

Shikamaru sighed as another crash sound from behind the door he was standing in front of. He had come back to the inn again, a day after his first visit, and found himself listening to the argument between Sanji and Zoro. It seemed that even despite having grown up, the blonde still had a rather short fuse. Sighing again, he knocked on the door, trying his best to get it heard.

Tiredly, he noticed that the yelling didn't even pause at the knock, though he thought he could hear a reindeer's hooves trotting to the door. And sure enough the door opened, Chopper's head peeking through the small crack.

"Hi. Can I come in?" he asked politely, trying not to spook the creature. He might've known him for even less than a day, but he could tell the small thing was shy around people he wasn't familiar with. The shinobi smiled a little when the furry doctor nodded timidly and opened the door wide for him to walk through.

"If you want to talk to Sanji, you have to wait a little. Nami is the only one who can stop them in the middle of their arguments." Chopper told him and Shikamaru got an odd feeling about the situation. Like a domestic violence case where the parents fought constantly and the child had to endure it. It was a rather disturbing thought, so the shinobi shook it away.

Shaking his head, the shinobi went through the hand signs for _Kagemane no Jutsu_, deciding against waiting this time. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the reindeer jump, as the shinobi's shadow started to stretch along the floor towards the two men. Lazily, Shikamaru watched his shadow merge with the men's, swiftly taking control of the two.

"What the hell?!" the green haired man yelled the moment he realized he had no control over his body. Sanji's reaction was milder, probably because he had seen the technique before.

"Sorry, but I'd rather not waste all my time here waiting for you two to stop fighting." the genius drawled, his eye twitching a bit as Zoro struggled against the jutsu. Exactly how strong was the man? Shikamaru looked down, knowing his technique forced the ones under it to follow his lead. "See the shadow? I've connected mine with yours, giving me control over your body." he explained and dispelled the technique, not too eager to find out if the swordsman could break free of it.

"How come you came back here? Did you need something?" the blonde asked, looking a bit irritated, though not quite as angry as Zoro, who kept muttering under his breath.

"Kakashi's looking for you. Knows you're in Konoha." the shinobi informed, raising an eyebrow when the former ninja cursed. He would've shown some sympathy, but he had seen this coming. The copy ninja hadn't been in the ANBU just because of his Sharingan; of course he would know Sanji is Naruto.

"So it really was him I sensed around on that street." the blonde grumbled distastefully, making Shikamaru narrow his eyes. Exactly how had he known that? "Why did he come to you? He knows where I'm at. He gave us the directions here after all." Sanji continued, furrowing his brows. Shikamaru noted that the tenseness the man had had when they had bumped into each other had returned full force, the blonde's nails pressing into the palms of his hands.

"Asking for permission. He knows you have your reasons for not seeking him out earlier." the genius told him truthfully, having discussed the subject with the copy ninja before. The blonde chef bit his lip, contemplating as to what he should do.

As he waited for an answer, the shinobi noted the green haired swordsman eyeing the blonde with annoyance.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Zoro was pissed, he couldn't believe this.

First the cook gets scared shitless at the mere mention of his home town, then changes his mind completely and wants to meet in said town where he gets scared of a woman, the one thing he would think the blonde wouldn't be afraid of. Next the Shikamaru guy invites himself over and the cook ignores it. Now the curly brow is actually considering of meeting with the strange man from two days ago, who he had also been abnormally wary of.

The swordsman felt like punching something the moment the cook nodded silently. He was already confused enough, even with the little information the blonde had given them. If this new person brought up something new about the cook then Zoro was going to stop at nothing to get him talk, just to get some answers. He'd already been overly considerate by leaving him alone.

"Just tell him to wait a while. Some of our friends are supposed to reach Konoha in a day or two…" the blonde said, aggravating the swordsman further by telling the man about their nakama.

Zoro glared at the cook who, noticing the look, glared back.

"Right, well, I'll go do that then." the shinobi said lazily, leaving the room with an odd look towards the swordsman. What Zoro didn't know was that his quarrels with the curly browed cook reminded the lazy man of the battles between two certain individuals more than nine years ago.

The green haired man moved his stare from the blonde only after Shikamaru closed the room's door with a click. Deciding he'd wasted enough of his time, the swordsman went to his bed, fully intending on forgetting the last few days of his life for just a few hours.

He pretended he didn't see the confused frown Sanji threw him.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Sakura whipped her head up when she heard someone thumping her apartment's front door insistently. In fact, she could swear if the door might break off its hinges if she didn't hurry and open it soon. Standing up hurriedly, she glanced at the clock. The kunoichi almost froze in mid-step when she realized it was already afternoon. Wasn't it just morning?

The knocking broke her out of her thoughts again and she started to walk toward the door again, wondering exactly who wanted to see her on her day off. Maybe team eight was back from their mission in Suna?

The pink haired woman opened the door quickly, hoping she didn't get punched in the face in the process. She had to admit she hadn't expected to see Ino, having thought the woman was busy for at least the next few days. Without even a hello the blonde woman burst past Sakura and into her living room.

"Ino-pig? What are you doing here?" she questioned her old friend. Despite the insult, the pink haired kunoichi was glad to see the other woman. Ever since Sasuke was declared a missing-nin, the two had eventually given up their rivalry, their crush not coming in the way. They still argued, but besides Kakashi and Hinata, the blonde woman was the best friend she had.

"Obviously I got free time." Ino answered, but Sakura knew better than to believe the woman came just to see her. She could see a familiar glint in the greenish blue eyes of the kunoichi. The same glint the woman got every time there was something she wanted. And Sakura was pretty sure she knew what it was this time, so she gave an unimpressed stare. "Yeah, okay, I saw you talking to the two men and a reindeer two days ago and-"

"Knew it."

"Shut up. The other man had green hair and three swords, you can't blame me!" the woman defended herself. The pink haired woman would've believed her claim if the man in question hadn't been so visually appealing. All the bulk and scars and the scowl wasn't exactly her type, but she could still admit the man had been handsome in his own way.

"Well, I can't really help you. Kakashi-sensei is the one that talked to them. I only ended up giving my name to the blonde one." the pink haired kunoichi muttered, still not quite sure what to think of the man. Her friend looked at her expectantly. "He calls himself Sanji. Seems kind of a womanizer if you ask me…"

Ino snorted and Sakura knew she had seen the man's obnoxious swooning. The pink haired kunoichi rolled eyes and set off to fetch her wallet, knowing full well the other woman would drag her out of her house to hang out somewhere.

As she reached her bedroom, she caught a glimpse of the old photograph of her old team, lying on the floor where she had left it, having been staring at it before her friend showed up. Sakura wasn't sure why she had been doing so, considering the picture couldn't answer any of her questions, but she supposed it helped her think in some weird way. She picked up the photo and put it back on her nightstand before rushing out of the door, wallet in hand and azure eyes haunting her mind.

**xxxOPNxxx**

Nami sighed as another row of snores cutting through her eardrums. Trying to block the infuriating sound, she clamped her hands on her ears. Just as she thought the noise was muffled enough, a bony elbow started poking her side, so she sat up quickly and managed to confirm the elbow indeed belonged to the perverted skeleton of the Strawhat pirates.

Sighing again tiredly, the red haired navigator stood up and moved away from the musician, making sure her new spot was out of the reach of both Brook and the two male shinobi. At first she felt like she should be surprised that the bug user flailed around in his sleep so much, but then the navigator realized she lived in a ship full of weirdoes and she'd seen stranger sleeping habits. And speaking of sleeping habits, her captain stretched his arm in his sleep, most likely punching something in his dream, knocking her over.

The woman fell over with a small screech. Right on top of Hinata. Damn rubber idiot.

The kunoichi, as expected, woke up with a start.

"N-Nami-san?!" she exclaimed as she found the redhead's face right in front of hers. The navigator sent an apologetic look at the Hyūga as she rolled off her.

"Sorry. I…tripped." she explained, eye twitching at the last word, regretting her decision of ever standing up in the first place. She should've guessed it would be a bad idea. Actually, how was she awake in the first place? She was quite sure it was late night already and it's not like she couldn't sleep through a lot of noise. God knows she should be used to loud snoring.

"…On what?" the timid kunoichi asked, her face scrunching up in confusion. Or what Nami assumed to be confusion, the moon didn't bring in much light and the thin clouds blocked some of it off as well. "We're in a cave…"

The pirate shook her head and pointed at the rubber man's arm that was still stretched out, gripping tight on Kiba's foot. The redhead dreaded the moment her captain decided to let his arm return to normal. The animalistic shinobi was going to hit the solid rock wall of the small cave with a force strong enough to break bones. The poor fool.

"You know…Your captain reminds me of someone I used to know." Hinata stuttered out quietly when neither woman lied down to sleep again. The navigator raised an eyebrow despite knowing the other woman couldn't probably see it. As far as she knew, people like Luffy were hard to come by. The Hyūga continued regardless. "I'm sure the two of them would get along well."

"Who is it? Someone from Konoha?"

"His name was Naruto. He disappeared nine years ago without a word…"

"Oh. Sorry." Something about the woman's tone struck a chord in Nami's heart. She wasn't sure if it was the heaviness of the words that implied there had been many suppressed tears involved, or the melancholy tone, telling of many memories that by now were buried somewhere deep inside. The pirate stared at the kunoichi, unable to say anything to console the woman.

"It's fine. It's just that…He was someone really important to me. Someone I looked up to." Hinata whispered, still staring the rubbery man snoring a few feet away. "The people in the village didn't like him much, in fact most hated him, but he wasn't put down by them. He stood up for himself and was always trying his best to prove himself to the villagers. Something I always had a problem with…"

"Why did they hate him?"

Hinata turned her pale eyes to see the pirate.

"Because of a demon…"

The kunoichi fell silent then, not uttering a word even when Kiba flew over her head screaming.


End file.
